If you look at
my post from Monday, you’ll see that we had a phenomenal weekend. We completed the Breakthru Conference and saw God move in so many lives. We were soaring on the Spirit’s wind and the fruit of great ministry. We’d seen the kingdom come and the enemy suffer defeat.
After all the years of ministry under my belt, you’d think I’d be smarter about what to expect next. We experienced a spiritual concept called
backlash. Backlash is what happens when our enemy hits back at us immediately after he’s experienced a setback. Here’s a good picture of what it looks like in
this blog.
I can remember first learning about it when I would return home from an overseas ministry trip. I’d come home having seen miracles. In my ignorance, I’d walk through the front door unprepared and oblivious, with signs, wonders, and stories still swirling in my spirit. Meanwhile, back on the home front, Karen frequently felt like the guy in the movie Platoon whose position had been overrun by North Vietnamese soldiers.
Especially during those years where we had five small children under the age of seven, things would be chaotic. She just needed me to help her restore order and give her some time to go soak in the tub. If I expected everyone to be on the same exalted spiritual plane I was floating on, then I had another thing coming. We would miss each other like ships in the night. And seeing an opportunity, the enemy would sow the seeds of discord.
Typically, within a day, all hell would break loose in our home. Gone were the blissful spiritual thoughts as the urgency of sheer survival became paramount.
And so it went yesterday. I woke up and before I could even have a quiet time, the chaos and the problems had begun to form a line at my front door. Multiple people needed to talk to me. A key ministry partner was under attack and needed prayer. A leader’s family problems were complicating an initiative of ours. And it went on from there.
Fortunately, on my voice mail was a key intercessor of mine, Iris Stewart. She left a message saying that God reminded her that “the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force.” The fog lifted a bit and I had a moment of clarity – this was a counterattack after a victory. It was backlash clear and simple. I needed to go and pray.
Which I did. I went running and began declaring what I know to be true – stirring up my spirit and exercising my will. I praised God and reminded my spirit man of my authority in Christ and my stewardship before God. And it worked. I hit back at the enemy and we closed out the day with another glorious falling of the Holy Spirit on the training camp in the evening.
It’s a spiritual battle, but this stuff works. We need to wake up and get smart about the devious ways in which our enemy will contest us for territory and try to throw us off our game. The word of the Lord today is, when backlash comes, fight back!
A great message… thanks for that.
I had a moment like that earlier this month where for the first time I experienced physical violence because of the Gospel. In the moment it was very difficult but God reminded us that we are not fighting against flesh and blood…Eph 6:12
Weathered some yesterday and I was letting it win. Thanks for showing me what it is and how to handle it. Missing the glorious covering from Gainesville……….T
Oh my word Seth “that’s a good word there” as Kris Vallotton would say, LOL! This is exactly what God has been showing me lately too – we go take ground back for the Lord and advance His kingdom and then all of a sudden WHAM – out of nowhere it seems chaos ensues! Remembering what the Lord told Peter satan desired to sift him as wheat what needs to be sifted will be sifted during those WHAM times and we come up for air and realize what we really believe and what areas of our lives are either unbalanced, exposed, uncovered, etc. That very scripture that intercessor gave you was what the Lord gave me just yesterday and I told my husband violence will happen but we need to be just as violent in return – which could actually look very non-violent, praise, rest, play time,…!
Thanks for sharing this word Seth and keep pressing into the enemies territory – and like Bob Jones once said when satan appeared to him at night as he rolled over and said “Oh it’s only you!” he is a defeated foe and the gates of hell shall not prevail!
Blessings brother,
Nathalie
Easy to forget our battle is not against flesh and blood. Don’t know about you, but I am always surprised when this stuff happens, then not at all surprised when I remember there’s more to it than meets the natural eye. Sometimes wonder if I will ever learn! Standing up in who you are in Christ only works when you remember who you are! Bless you guys, lol Cxx
Thanks for everything that you did yesterday for me in spite of what was going on.
YEP!!!
Hi Seth And team,
We are all in the same boat here, chaos attacking our lives.
However, As myself and tammi are sitting in the aiport on monday catching a flight back home from the breakthru conference The Lord spoke to me in Mark. As I placed myself with Jesus while reading The story about the healing of a man with a withred hand in the synagogue(which was very vivid since He showed the temple , the man and Pharasiees), He showed me how the pharasees were concentrated more in how to convict and persecute Him instead of embracing His Glory.And that it is when He said to me Opposition!He showed me that when we are confronted with opposition that we are an opportunity for Him to manifest His Glory thru that opposition that arises in our lives. As God uses the opposition of the sun and the moon around the earth to produce sea tides, He uses opposition in our life to produce Glory and Victory by God ‘s free given Grace and favour. Ciao and please takethe opportunity to find a blessed Laugh in my grammatical errors. Ha!Ha! with Love And Grace
Backlash or post victory crash – thanks for the heads up. I already stepped into it Tuesday night with my wife but I determined to push through it and make it right on my end. I was frustrated that everything was so easy on the mountain but I refuse to let go or let blessing become a distant memory. I am resting in Him.
This happened to us today too. It was more subtle, but the oven quit working and Jen had wanted to cook a big meal to celebrate the beautiful freedom we experienced at break thru and had a pot roast in the oven and it just stopped working. Then she tried to go to the store to get a whole cooked chicken and tried two different stores an couldn’t find any. She came home crying becuase she just wanted to do something nice for her family. I know it sounds trite, but this is so clearly opposition. Satan is in fact a jerk. He is a defeated jerk, but a jerk nonetheless and we must continue to stand firm in the midst of opposition. Thanks for break thru. It was amazing!
good word Seth, about 3 weeks into it…will pray,
love you,
Lisa
good stuff dad. love you!
Thank you for your advice. i often find when i go into prayer and fasting with my church there is a strange attack almost guaranteed either my cat runs away, my bank card is stolen or lost causing the ultimate choas of having no available money. recently i have come under spiritual attacks and church memebers are in opposition to me for what ever reason.I was also shown that as christ performed his miracles the pharasees were quickly there to oppose him and i realise that these recent spiritual attacks and opposition from church members are from an opposing spirit to gods work. i prayed tearing down and rooting up and destroying all those infuences and now i stand assured that god is as always with me and will give me the victory once again. and i must say i am spitually more wiser and stronger. god bless you.
Thanks, Lorraine. I pray that you persevere.
I had an awesome day at church yesterday that I visited. I did not have the greatest day today. Co-workers can be mean but te deil is at work. I came home and stood over my kitchen sink preparing dinner and the tears came rolling down. Then I heard BACKLASH in my spirit. I did not know what the word meant if there was even such a word, I could not even remember so I came online hoping to find the meaning whch lead me to your article. Yes, satan is a liar and no weapon formed aganst me will propser and all things work together for good to those who love God and are called for His purpose. Thanks for the artice, written in 2008, but His word lives on, it never dies and MUST accomplish it;s plan
I was BLESSED aND ENCOURAGE BY YOUR WORDS .I CAME HOME VERY DISCOURAGE AND TIRED .I WENT TO BED GOT UP AGAIN AND STILL VERY TIRED I STAYED IN THE SHOWER FOR 30 MINUTES STILL VERY TIRED THEN I REMEMBER THE PERSON I TOOK TO CHURCH AND THE ONES I PRAYED FOR AND HEARD IN MY SPIRIT U GOT A SPIRITUAL BACKLASH . THANKS FOR ENCOURAGEMENT
I’m glad to hear, Zora!
I think of the phrase from the common children’s fairy tale:
“he huffed and he puffed” but Satan WILL NOT blow this house down! I am transformed from my time at Breakthru last weekend. Guess you can say…I am wrecked!