Psalm 110:1-2 ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.’

DAILY READING: Matthew 20:17-34; Numbers 15-16; Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20

In 1919, in the center of enterprise, Alabama, was erected a marble sculpture of a woman carrying a bowl with an enormous boll weevil on it. It is quite interesting that the people of Alabama had a monument honoring the boll weevil when, in truth, it is the most destructive pest in American history. The plaque in front of the monument reads, “In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity.”
However for the people of Alabama, this pest, which almost destroyed their cotton industry, forced them to begin to plant an alternative crop that eventually brought them great prosperity.

By 1909, the weevil had almost destroyed cotton, which was their main cash crop. After losing the battle to control the insect, farmers then began to look for other crops that would not be eaten by the boll weevil. One of the few crops that could tolerate those conditions was peanuts. In 1916, when a farmer, Mr. Baston, planted his entire crop in peanuts, that year he earned $8,000 from his new crop, paid up his debts accumulated over previous years, and still had money left over.

Word of Baston’s success spread quickly. Farmers who had once scorned the idea of growing anything other than cotton jumped on the peanut train, and by 1917 regional farmers produced over 1 million bushels of peanuts that sold for more than $5 million. This new crop brought prosperity like nothing they had ever seen. They made more money in a few months off peanuts than they normally made the whole year off cotton crops. Soon Alabama became the largest producer of peanuts in the country, and shortly thereafter became the first in the region to produce peanut oil. Peanut brought so much prosperity that when the boll weevils finally left, the farmers never went back to planting cotton; they stuck with peanuts. It was really thanks to the boll weevil that they diversified and prospered, which is why the town erected a statue of the pest.

God can sometimes use things that are trying to push you down to push you up. If you don’t understand this principle, you’ll often get discouraged by negative circumstances that pop up on your path. The opposition isn’t meant to stop you; it is meant to establish you; and when you overcome it, you will step into a new level of your destiny.

Many times God will use negative situations to catapult you to success. Sometimes when God wants to promote you, He will cause a Goliath, Pharaoh or Judas to turn up in your path. But always understand that these people and situations trying to stop you cannot keep you from your destiny; God alone has the final say over your life. God has only strategically placed those Goliaths and Judases to serve His purpose in your life.

Psalm 110:1-2 says, ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.’
Indeed, God will make your enemies your footstool. This means that situations and people trying to push you down will be footstools that will be used to lift you up to greater heights. Their persecution, betrayals, and disappointments will eventually serve as the steps to your next level.

While there are divine connections lined up for you, also lined up are Goliaths that are ordained to push you into your greater destiny. And sometimes what you think is a setback is really God setting you up to do something new. Though they might have mocked you or walked away, they didn’t set you back; rather, they set you up for the fullness of your destiny.

The truth is that our greatest potentials are often developed through adversity. Sometimes those critics are there to help you grow and mature spiritually. If God removed some of the opposition, we would never reach our highest potentials. If some of your critics had not been against you, you would not have prayed so hard. If they hadn’t made fun of you and said you didn’t have what it took to succeed, you might have become complacent and ended up mediocre.

Now it is true that we often face these oppositions; however, a heart of gratitude is our fastest escape out of every negative situation. When you are grateful, you wouldn’t need to fight to win your battles because God takes your place in battle while you just watch. Gratitude is a spiritual force that empowers us to scale great heights. Indeed, it is your gratitude that determines your altitude in life. And as we remain grateful and praise-full this season, God will make every enemy our footstool and cause the earth to yield her increase to us in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER
Lord, help me to be always full of gratitude, no matter the oppositions I may sometimes face. I know indeed that as I remain grateful to You, You shall fight my battles and cause the earth to yield its increase to me in Jesus’ Name.

QUOTE
The battle you are faced with today is a good warfare because God has already foreordained a victorious end for you.