The Power of “No”

“Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve” Matthew 4:10 ESV.

Recently, I found myself in a tough situation. I am an athlete and last week was my provincial championship competition. I was so excited. After a long and unexpected season due to COVID-19, I was so excited to get to the stadium and perform to the best of my ability. For weeks I had been praying, preparing, training, and getting excited for this moment in my life. But when the moment finally came, everything felt off. We took a wrong turn to get to the stadium, and I lost a chunk of my warmup time. When we arrived, I immediately felt intimidated and unprepared. As I began my warmup, I felt physical pain in three different places. To make matters worse, I had been looking at the wrong schedule and found out my competition was 15 minutes earlier than I had planned for – cutting into my already shortened preparation time once again.

When the big moment finally came, I walked towards the start line in defeat. I felt as though I would not be able to showcase everything I had worked so hard for all season. But then I had a realization. This was no ordinary “off” day – this was an attack. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, and I felt like the enemy had hopped on my back and was weighing me down. Amid all this, I felt God whisper to my heart.

The only power the enemy has over you is the power you give to him.

I chose to say “no” to the enemy’s distractions and tricks. I repeated this phrase in my head again and again until the race started. Needless to say, I ran the fastest race of my life.

Not everything in life is about spiritual warfare – but a lot of things are. As we go out to do what God has called us to do, the enemy feels threatened and will do everything in his power to stop us from living out our purpose. However, the enemy has no power over you unless you give it to him. He can dangle temptations in front of your face. He can throw obstacles and challenges in your path. He can whisper words of doubt and fear into your heart. BUT THE ENEMY CANNOT STOP YOU FROM FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE.

We see an example of this interaction occur to the Son of God in Matthew 4. The enemy throws all his tricks at Jesus, but Jesus does not fall for any of them. Instead of allowing Satan’s tricks to hinder Him or divert Him from His purpose, Jesus simply said “no.” He said “no” to breaking a fast that God had told Him to do. He said “no” to testing God. And He said “no” to trading eternal joy for temporary happiness. Jesus said no, and we can too.

As you go out to fulfill the purpose that God has placed on your life, do not allow yourself to buy into what the enemy is selling. He is the father of lies, and the only power he gets is when you fall for his lie. No one can separate you from your purpose. It’s yours – go out and fulfill it. And if anyone tells you that you can’t, or you’re too weak, or it’s too hard, or the odds aren’t in your favour, or that you should give up or that God has abandoned you, simply tell them “NO.”

THE ONLY POWER THE ENEMY HAS OVER YOU IS THE POWER YOU GIVE TO HIM.