I was so encouraged today by what I read, so let me pass it on to you..

The greatest victories of God are often won by apparent defeat. God allows the enemy to come in and wreak all kinds of havoc. The enemy thinks he has the victory – sometimes I can actually hear the enemy laughing at me!

But God only allows all hell to break loose for a season. Just as the earth is designed to go through cycles and seasons, so are you. It’s a season where Almighty God sets the stage in order for Him to get the most glory from the miracle He will do in your life. He comes in and upsets the work of the enemy, and as the Bible says “frustrates the way of the wicked” (Psalm 146: 9).

Defeat may serve as well as victory
To shake the soul and let the glory out
When the great oak is straining in the wind,
The limbs drink in new beauty, and the trunk
Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.
~ Streams in the Desert, January 18