ROOTED RENEGADE

Nehemiah 1-6 and Judges 13-16

I encourage you to read these passages, meditate on them, and ask Holy Spirit to reveal the hidden manna in it.

Giants are coercive and have mastered the art of persuasion with a demonic twist. They don’t take ‘no’ for an answer and will continue to use pressure until you cave. 

When I do any type of human trafficking awareness training, I talk about coercion. Coercion is a powerful tool against someone who is vulnerable. Romeo pimps use it to lure in their victims with coercive love. They give just enough and then withhold when they don’t get what they want. Often times they ask girls to give them nudes and when they refuse or are shy about it, they tell them that they must not love them. 

Gang members use coercion as a tactic as well. They use it when they are initiating a new set member. Because people who typically join gangs that didn’t grow up in one, have family issues, the gang will act like a family to the person. When it comes time for initiation, they will pressure them into doing something they would not normally do, for the family. “Show the fam you love them”. “If you wanna be a part of this fam, then you will do it, no questions asked”. And so on.

This coercion manipulates someone into compromsing so they don’t lose the relationship they have. Victims don’t want to lose love, and new set members just wanna belong somewhere. It’s a twisted game really.

Nehemiah surely felt the pressures from Sanballat and Tobiah. From their insults and mockery to their letters of accusation – he was hard pressed on every side but he didn’t give up or compromise (2 Cor. 4:8-18).

But there is another man in Scripture who did finally cave and give into compromise. Samson. Delilah was paid to find out where Samson’s strength came from and he was not supposed to tell anyone. God had granted him supernatural strength as long as he didn’t cut his hair. It was a promise made to his mother. But the Philistines wanted to defeat him and Delilah was loyal to no one and nothing but money.

The Philistines knew Samson had a weak spot for beautiful women and they used it against him. Three times she asked him and each time he lied to her. As soon as he revealed the false secret, she would have the Philistines come in on him. Now how he didn’t learn the first time not to trust her, I have yet to figure out. But isn’t that true for us as well. People reveal who they are, and when it’s bad, we tend to not pay attention. In part because we don’t want to see that they have ill intentions. And because we don’t want to judge. But when they continue to show us, we have to start paying attention.

Samson fell under the power of coercion and gave this giant what she was after….the real deal. He is captured, his eyes are gouged out, and he is chained between two pillars. God has mercy on him and gives him one more shot at using his strength. He takes everyone down with him.

For us, it isn’t so much about getting that one more shot or chance, it is about recognizing this giant when it comes at us. Yes, the enemy uses people to do his bidding. And they may not even realize it.

But we have to take a step back and evaluate what’s really going on. There is that old adage, “when people show you who they are believe them” and I think we can learn from it. We don’t have to keep going around the same merry-go-round with folks who want us to compromise who we are.

We must be careful who is bending our ears. We can love those who the enemy sends and still keep them from whispering to us. Discernment is essential, especially in these last days, so we can see through the coercive tactics and defeat the giants coming against us.

Faythe