You can look at the Old Testament story of Joseph to see a perfect example of someone who successfully overcame resistance. Faithfulness and persistence were keys to his success but look at all the obstacles he had to overcome to get there; he had a dream of great success and immediately there was resistance: his brothers’ jealousy drove them to throw him into a pit. When they pulled him out, they sold him into slavery!
While in slavery he became the head servant for an Egyptian army captain named Potiphar. While at Potiphar’s estate Joseph became a trusted overseer, but before long there was greater resistance: he was falsely convicted as a rapist and jailed! In this situation, anyone would probably give up, but he kept pressing his battle. After 13 years of contending, he was moved from the dungeon to the presidency, within one second! He was finally fulfilling his God given dream; but what is he doing all along the way? He was pressing the battle at every opportunity. When disappointment came, he did not allow it to turn to disillusionment. So, I say to you, do not allow your present disappointments to turn to deception. Press the battle, child of God!
Years after Joseph passed away, the children of Israel faced resistance when they were enslaved for 400 years. They experienced persecution and suffering at the hand of their Egyptian taskmasters. How would you feel being a slave, owned by someone else as property, for four hundred years? The children of Israel cried out for deliverance so God sent a man named Moses to break the resistance. God, in effect, said, “Moses, I want you to press the battle. It is time! I have heard my children’s cry!”
Let me tell you, that is the first sign of somebody that is coming out of bondage. They begin to cry out to God. They still believe Hebrews 11:6,
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
They believe not only that “God is,” but that He is a “rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” They are operating in the Spirit to press the battle. They are learning to disregard what the enemy might say to them; they know he is a liar! They are not focusing on what the circumstances might say to them. Instead they boldly declare, “Regardless, I am going to press in to God and find my answer. I am going to find the strength to break through!”
Sometimes we can cause our own resistance. Moses was chosen of God, but in Exodus 2:11-15 we read that he stepped out in his own strength by slaying an Egyptian. This mistake cost him forty years in the desert; but out in that desert he had an encounter with God in the form of a burning bush. It put a fierce determination on the inside of him. He led the children of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness pressing the battle in order to enter the Promise Land. Even though he never entered the Promise Land, you can still sense the vitality of Moses’ persistence!
