//Kenneth W. Hagin

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place—Part 1

If we are going to accomplish God’s plan for our lives, we need to know how to stand against opposition. One of the secrets to our success will be learning how to remain unmovable when people or circumstances come against us.

We can learn a lesson on how to stand by looking at the children of Israel. After they left Egypt, the Israelites were headed to the Promised Land. They left a life of slavery and were looking forward to a better life. But suddenly, they found themselves in a difficult situation.

The Egyptian army was pursuing them from behind, hills and mountains were on each side of them, and the Red Sea was in front of them. They were hemmed in and it looked as though they were caught between a rock and a hard place. But notice that the minute they got into trouble, they began murmuring and complaining to Moses. They asked, “ ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?’ ” (Exod. 14:11 NIV 1984).

Although they had been crying out for deliverance, they forgot God’s promise to deliver them. When it looked as if there was no way out, instead of turning to God, they looked at the Red Sea with despair. They were filled with fear and didn’t consider God. They looked at their circumstances through their natural senses. And suddenly the bondage they just came out of didn’t look so bad.

This same thing can happen to us today. When it looks as though our backs are against the wall, we may want to run. But when we are in situations like this, we need to learn to stand firm and focus on God, which is what Moses told the children of Israel to do.

EXODUS 14:13–14 (NIV 1984)
13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. STAND FIRM and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.
14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

We shouldn’t be surprised that trouble comes knocking when we follow after God and focus on His promises. The devil doesn’t want us to go forward with God and will do whatever he can to get us to quit. It’s during times like this that we need to keep our focus on the Lord and remember the words of the Apostle Paul:

1 CORINTHIANS 15:57–58 (NIV 1984)
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, STAND FIRM. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Saying that we’ll stand firm is easy, but it’s much harder to do when things are coming against us. It’s not always easy to stand firm when the enemy is throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink! Many people want to cut and run in times of trouble. Half the battle can be staying in our position. If we’re going to receive everything that God has for us, we have to learn how to stay in the place He has called us to, no matter how difficult it may get.

The more we focus on the impossibilities, the further down we’ll go. But when we start looking at the possibilities of God—the possibilities of healing, deliverance, success, and victory—we’ll see our situation change. When we rise up and begin telling the devil who we are in Christ, we will move into the promises of God—our Promised Land—and impossibilities will become possibilities.
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(Editor’s Note: Look for Part 2 of this article in the December issue of The Word of Faith.)