Hopelessness, Suffering, and Unjust Loss - Part 12
To Plunder the Enemy
In the last few minutes of the last CD of his teaching series entitled “Entering His Glory”, Paul Keith Davis tells the story of a distinguished-looking man with white hair, a white beard, and dressed in a pinstriped suit, who approached him after a meeting in Amarillo, Texas. Paul Keith found out later that this man had been a pastor for many years. The man told him about a profound experience he’d had years earlier. In this experience, the man was caught up to the courtroom of heaven where he saw the Lord sitting in the judge’s seat, elevated above the spot where the man found himself standing. This man was the only person in the courtroom. The Lord addressed the man by name and began to talk to him, asking him, “Do you believe that I will, on occasion, allow the enemy to plunder my people?”
The man thought for a moment, remembering the story of Job and others in the Bible, and he answered, “Yes, Lord, I do believe that, on occasion, you will allow the enemy to plunder your people.”
Then the Lord asked, “Do you believe that I would allow the enemy to plunder your life to death?”
The man replied, “No, Lord. I don’t believe you would do that.”
No sooner had the man finished his reply then the double doors of the courtroom burst open as if they had been kicked in, and Satan walked into the room in an arrogant, blatant manner and walked straight up to the judge’s seat. What followed was a scene reminiscent of the first chapter of Job or the third chapter of Zechariah.
The Accuser and the Lord began to engage in conversation as if the man wasn’t even there. The Accuser, in a loud and flagrant attitude said, “I demand the right to plunder this man’s life!”
The Lord agreed to this demand and said, “I give you the right to plunder this man’s life … but it’s going to cost you.”
(Of course, the man witnessing this encounter was not comfortable at all with the direction this conversation was taking!)
Defiant, Satan said, “I’ve been plundering your people’s lives for centuries, and it’s never cost me anything yet!”
At that moment, the Lord turned to that man and said, “When My people learn to come before My courtroom to demand justice, then they will plunder the camp of the enemy!”
This is a vital lesson for all believers!
How to Claim Repayment for Your Unjust Losses
There is a common lie that most believers in Christ seem to have resigned themselves to accepting. Most believers seem to think that, in this life, the devil is able to steal from us and bring destruction into our lives, and there’s nothing we can do about it. They believe that some battles will be lost. It’s just part of life.
If you believe that is true, then it will become true for you.
God regrets that this is true for so many, as He expressed in Isaiah 42:22 (NRSV):
“But this is a people robbed and plundered, all of them are trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become a prey with no one to rescue, a spoil with no one to say, ‘Restore!’”
On the other hand, if you are determined to see that God’s justice is rendered for the pain and losses that you and your family have suffered, justice is available for you!
As the Lord declared to the man who witnessed the confrontation in the courtroom of Heaven, “When My people learn to come before My courtroom to demand justice, then they will plunder the camp of the enemy!” God has provided a simple, yet powerful way for us to do just that!
- Come before God with a clear conscience. Before you come before the Righteous Judge to demand justice, you should make sure that your conscience is clear of any wrong-doing. Ask forgiveness of those whom you have offended. Forgive those who might have offended you.
- State your case. Just as you would in a court of law, state your case to God. Clearly describe the details of the injustice that you have suffered.
- Cry out for justice. Tell God that you want justice for your sufferings and losses. Ask for repayment. It is not up to us to decide what form that repayment will take, but the Righteous Judge will determine what is the best form of repayment for our individual situations.
It’s just that simple. God has been waiting for you to cry out to Him for justice! Jesus confirmed this in Luke 18:1-8 (NLT):
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ‘There was a judge in a certain city,’ he said, ‘who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, “Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.” The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, “I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!”
“Then the Lord said, ‘Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?’”
Jesus assured us in this passage that full and complete justice will be granted by God as we cry out to Him in faith. His only question was, will we have the faith to believe it? The reason faith is important is because many people have missed out on the promises of God simply because they did not believe them, as we are told in Hebrews 4:1-3 (CEV):
“The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out. We have heard the message, just as they did. But they failed to believe what they heard, and the message did not do them any good. Only people who have faith will enter the place of rest.”
God’s justice and compensation for all of your unjust losses is waiting for you! Believe it! Believe His promises! Cry out to Him for justice, and you will receive all that God has for you as repayment for your unjust losses!
“We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.”—Hebrews 11:6 (CEV)
