TEXT: Ecclesiastes 3:1 ” To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.”
Time functions as a dominant force that directs all of life’s existing phenomena. The order established by Time determines both political victories and royal ascents and divine prophecies and heavenly purposes.
According to Biblical teachings, Time exists in two concepts: the Chronos (Greek origin), which measures time quantitatively such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. A forward-moving time that can be measured by clocks, watches, and the moon’s phases. And the Kairos(Greek origin), which measures time qualitatively. A time that is considered opportune or critical. A time that is not limited by a clock or calendar such as seasons in a man’s life on earth as seen in our opening text Ecclesiastes chapter 3:1. Each seasonal phase contains opportunities together with its exclusive set of hindrances between which threats exist to disrupt God’s established intentions for our lives.
In the opening text, the writer tries to show us that we live in a world of seasons and changes and that the several events in time and conditions of human life vary vastly from person to person. There are many seasons and times in a man’s life, but our focus in this message will hinge on time with characteristics as shown below;
i. times when our faith is challenged by prevailing circumstances,
ii. times were we are about to lose heart on the promises of God,
iii. times of physical and spiritual weakness or weariness,
iv. times when we operate in error tangential to the will of God,
v. times when we fall out of alignment with God, through acts of disobedience/rebellion etc.
These seasons in our life are a function of many things ranging from what we can see and the unseen ones, what we hear and the things we can’t hear as well as what we feel about our life that is contrary to our expectations causing us to deviate from our element.
WHO ARE THESE EVIL SPIES?
They are people without the fear of God whose fruits(character) avail the devil an opportunity to use them as channels to snare the godly and derail their destinies.
The Bible in Psalm 37:32 says ”those who are evil spy on the godly, waiting for an excuse to kill them”. This verse gives us an idea of the purpose and the personality called the evil spies as it applies to this message. Evil Spies importing from this verse can be seen in various lights as shown below;
i. they are the enemies of our faith,
ii. they could be frenemies who pose as friends but in actual senses, they are enemies lying in wait for an opportunity to cause havoc,
iii. they could be our cherished neighbor whose hearts are evil towards us,
iv. they are people who pretend to care about us until the time is set for their evil agenda,
v. they could be wives or husbands whose original intention is to bring down their spouse and derail them away from the will of God for their destiny,
vi. they are evil subordinates operating in eye services lying in wait for his or her employer’s moment of weakness,
vii. they are evil church members that the kingdom of darkness has programmed to spy on you and lie in wait for a time of your weakness for them to strike,
viii. they are false Prophet, Prophetess and Pastors as captured in Matthew 7:15 ”Beware of false Prophets who disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart.’‘ They are sent into the world to mislead true worshippers in their moments of weakness.
PRAYER: May God open our eyes promptly to the devices of the evil spies and frustrate their schemes in our life, In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This message has come to awaken our consciousness to the need for watchfulness and vigilance, to identify and discern the activity of any timers around us.
They bible in 1 Peter 5:8, says ”Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” This verse further reveals the agenda of evil spies and his/her identity. It also warns us to beware of the times and the evil spy.
How do evil spies operate, and in what ways do they access the godly;
i. they always know our moment of weakness through the instrument of familiarity,
ii. they capitalize on privileged information you release to them,
iii. they are always closer than we think, thereby evading our suspicion,
iv. they can present as Angel of light just to mislead people as seen in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 ”These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostle of Christ. But I am not surprised, Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light.”
v. they take undue advantage of love (Fake love).
COUNSEL: Always be vigilant and prayerful. Make your choice of friends/close ones from the place of prayer and pay attention to people’s fruits(character). Love everyone but relate selectively. Ask God for wisdom to direct and the grace to discern.”…………Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove(Matthew 10:16)”
An example of a Biblical character that became a victim of an evil spy just as recorded in Judges chapter 16.
This is a very familiar bible story of Samson and Delilah. Though we will not x-ray the whole story in this message but rather we will look at key points as it relates to the subject matter.
Samson was an Israelite Judge and a warrior who was ordained by God with immense strength to aid him achieve the deliverance of the Israelite from her enemies as captured in Judges chapter 13.
Several generic and specific instructions/commands from God were meant to guide his ordination; one of the generic instructions was that, as an Israelite, there was a law prescribing the nature of their relationship with nations around them which was that he was not supposed to be romantically attached to a Philistine woman as captured in Deut. 7:3, ”Do not intermarry with them, and do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters.”
Samson violated this instruction by romantically entangling himself with Delilah (a Philistine harlot) as captured in Judges 16:4,” Later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek”. This violation created an access point for the entry of an evil spy in the person of Delilah.
COUNSEL: Every violation of divine instruction harbours the potential of creating an access point for the entry of evil spies whose intention is to lie in wait for your moment of weakness. Be guided. Violation of divine order exposes or opens up an individual to demonic influence and attack. Do not aid the devil to disconnect you from the source of your strength and grace through disobedience.
The entry of Delilah into Samson’s life led to the fall of Samson.
The Philistine after several unsuccessful attempts to overpower Samson, realized that Samson’s strength was not normal, that he had a supernatural source. Following this realization, they plotted to plant an evil spy in his life in the person of Delilah.
The Bible in Judges 16:5, says,” The leaders of the Philistines went to her and said, Find out from Samson what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”
Samson though he was strong was grossly unwise following his failure to adhere to divine instruction in his choice of a companion.
Delilah consents to the Leaders of the Philistine plot, swings into action, and becomes a snare to Samson and a spy for the Philistines against him(Samson).
The Bible speaking in Judges 16:9,12, says, ”She had hidden some men in one of the rooms of her house, and she cried out,’ Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!’But Samson snapped the bowstrings as if they were string that had been burned in a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.” 12 ”So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the room as before, and again Delilah cried out,’ Samson! The Philistines have come to capture! But Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were threads.” From the above verses, Samson saw signs of mischief in Delilah repeatedly, but he never considered fleeing from the house, an action that could have helped the situation to an extent.
COUNSEL: When God shows you a sign of escape through His act of Mercy, take advantage of it. Do not rely on your understanding. If that friendship/relationship proves to be irredeemably toxic, distracting, devoid of the fear of God, and unfavourable, do not condone it, severe it. Do not wait until it swallows you up.
Delilah persevered her way to success in her quest to betray Samson. The Bible in Judges 16:16-17, says,” So day after day she nagged him until he(Samson) couldn’t stand it any longer. Finally, Samson told her his secret. ‘My hair has never been cut,’ he confessed,’ for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
After prolonged nagging/persuasion from Delilah, in an accumulative moment of vexation, Samson revealed the source of his power at a point when he could no longer evade her persuasive skill. This singular revelation of his divine secret to an evil spy opened him up and created an avenue for the enemy to devise a means of disconnecting him from the source of his strength and consequently succeeding in overpowering him.
COUNSEL: Strict obedience to Divine secrets is man’s life jacket against the forces of darkness. Guard divine secrets jealously and bridle your tongue in moments of provocation/vexation. Do not spill your secret just to prove a point that might not even be necessary at any event because your life, destiny, and ordination depend on it. The devil cannot spoil what he does not know until you assist him by giving yourself up. Only God is all-knowing, the devil is limited in knowledge until we assist him.
Secondary to the revelation of his divine secret, the enemy capitalized on the information to formulate counter-measures that occasioned a misalignment with the source of his strength thereby rendering him powerless in the face of opposition. The Bible in Judges 16:20-21, says ”Then she cried out, ‘Samson! The philistine have come to capture you!’ When he woke up, he thought, ‘I will do as before and shake myself free.’ But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him. So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison.”
Samson could not exercise his unusual strength and power against the enemy of Israel at that time because the Lord (his source of strength) had departed from him and sadly he was not even aware until it became too late. His eyes were gouged out and his destiny was redirected from his ordination. He ended up grinding grain in the prison instead of defending Israel against her enemy.
COUNSEL: We are nothing without the power of God. The real strength of any man lies not in his physical power or energy but in his total obedience to God’s instructions/commandments governing all human seasons. The strongest man is a man of undiluted obedience to divine instruction. The grace of God upon men can be limited by the inadequacies of men’s character. The purpose of an evil spy is to derail ordained destinies. BEWARE!
Conclusion:
The course of life leads through various seasons that bring various hardships together with various prospects. The wisdom in Ecclesiastes 3:1, declares that heaven determines appropriate seasons for everything. Similar to the Philistines who used Delilah as an evil spy on Samson they utilized his vulnerable moments, the current world contains evil spies who present different guises. These individuals pretend to be friends and mentors as well as believers until they wait to attack at the right moment. These people intend to deceive us to distance us from what God intends for us.
One must exercise great caution and intelligence during these times because evil spies sent by the enemy attempt to disrupt destinies. Our path toward divine success requires guarding sacred secrets while in obedience to God and pursuing His wisdom to escape deception’s trap. Our steadfastness, discernment, and God’s will guide us to defeat any evil scheme that tries to prevail against us.
PRAYER: Lord, grant us the grace, wisdom, discernment, and strength to walk and operate in total obedience to the will of God as it concerns every season of our lives.in Jesus’ Name. Amen
DECLARATION: I receive the wisdom to discern and the grace to walk in obedience to Godly instructions and I will not become a victim of evil spies or allow myself to be used by the devil, in Jesus’ Name. Amen
You can also read up https://holywordreflections.com/100-short-prayers-for-family/
