From Jennifer:
As we gathered for our third video teaching, we talked about the fact that discouragement is real. In fact, discouragement is on satan’s bucket list! He wants you to live defeated and discouraged. So, he has strategies, weapons he uses to pull off his dark mission. We reviewed them … they were what you studied last week. Disobedience, misplaced priorities, and small things syndrome. Those are weapons from within. We can control those, withhold them from the enemy so he can’t use them against us. But, he also uses weapons from without: opposition and accusations of others. That’s what we looked at in Ezra 4:1-5, during our third video teaching.
The enemies of Judah were the Samaritans. We all have Samaritans in our lives, sometimes in our families, workplace, or neighborhood. Samaritans tend to oppose us, accuse us, and, in general, Samaritans serve as enemies to our peace and purpose. And, sometimes life is just messy and we find ourselves in Samaritan situations. The reason we have Samaritans is because we have an ultimate enemy who is the accuser and he came only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). And, often he uses Samaritans or Samaritan situations as his weapons to steal your confidence, kill your courage, and destroy your reputation. In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter tells us to be sober, aware, vigilant because we have an enemy and he is actively seeking who he can destroy. That’s why we talked about becoming aware of the enemy’s tactics, his “Samaritan strategies.“ Here are those strategies: 1. Samaritans infiltrate and manipulate. They try to attack from within a relationship. Very few Samaritan situations are strangers messing with you, but even if it happens, it doesn’t hurt as badly. It's the attack from within relationships that hurt the worst. That’s what happened to David. He was befriended and then betrayed by his friend, Ahithophel (Psalm 55:12-14). The Samaritans tried to get into relationship with the Jews (Ezra 4:2). But, Zerubbabel drew a boundary (Ezra 4:3). He knew the Samaritans were not like the Jews and had not been sacrificing to God as they claimed. We too must be wise about who we enter into alliance with and who we maintain close relationship with. A Samaritan’s goal is control. If Samaritans can't control you, they will set out to discourage you.
2. Samaritans deflate. The Samaritans set out to discourage the Jews, it was intentional (Ezra 4:4). We saw that another translation of this verse used “weaken their hands” in place of “discourage.” And, that’s how we feel when a Samaritan tries to discourage us—it makes us lose our grip. We feel like we can’t hold on. Samaritans do that in different ways depending on the relationship. They may insult you, undermine your authority, or give you the silent treatment. No wonder we may feel discouraged! The end of Ezra 4:4 in one translation says the Samaritans tried to “trouble the work.” And, it’s true, we can feel intimidated to keep on keeping on because Samaritans are making trouble. Samaritans don’t just discourage your spirit, they seek to disrupt your work. When a Samaritan makes trouble it makes you afraid to keep building. It messes with your confidence. But, it makes sense that Samaritans want to make you shrink back because they’re acting as a weapon of the enemy. The enemy seeks to kill and destroy. God is about construction, the enemy is about destruction.
3. Samaritans escalate. The Samaritans took it up a notch when it came to their opposition and accusation. They were lobbying against the Jews in the court of King Cyrus (Ezra 4:5). Samaritans try to get others on their team to oppose also. Samaritans will act like mean girls in middle school. They will try to gain power by spreading gossip and stirring up drama in order to accomplish their unjust goal.
4. Samaritans frustrate. Ultimately, their goal is to frustrate your purpose. That’s the end of Ezra 4:5. Even after the temple was finished under Zerubbabel, the Samaritans continued to oppose the work of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. This went on through the days of Nehemiah. Samaritans may wear you out but they are energized by their schemes. They are at their best when they are behaving their worst. We often think the Samaritans' purpose is just to frustrate us. But, because they are used as a weapon of the enemy, the real goal is to frustrate God’s purpose in your life. So, the big question is … what do we do with Samaritans? We finished up by fast-forwarding 500 years to see how Jesus handled Samaritans. We saw in John 4, Jesus met with a Samaritan woman at a well. Jesus affirmed her value and showed her grace. We can do the same with our Samaritans. We can acknowledge their human value even if we can’t affirm their virtue. Jesus saw her brokenness; we can do the same. Samaritans are hurt people and “hurt people hurt people.” Then, In Luke 10 we heard Jesus call a Samaritan “good.” In doing so, He affirmed that there is potential beyond what we can see and assume. No one is beyond His redemption. That means we can hold out hope for their redemption without letting them hold us hostage to bitterness or hopelessness. We ended on 1 Peter 3:9 and determined that if we want to inherit the blessing even in the midst of Samaritan situations, we don’t behave like they do. We don’t repay evil with evil or insult with insult. You may be married to a Samaritan. You may have an ex-husband who you find yourself in Samaritan situations with. You may work with a Samaritan. You may be estranged from a friend or family member because a Samaritan situation got out of control. In your Samaritan situations, you can choose outrage or you can choose courage.
So, my friend, take courage. It is yours for the taking. God can give you the courage to forgive, to bless, and to move forward. He will give you the courage to trust His Word more than your feelings when it comes to Samaritans! And all the sisters said ... amen! Love,
Jennifer Rothschild