"Sleeping With The Enemy"

1 Sam 1:1-7
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.
NKJV

What do you do when the enemy of your destiny is not a stranger or someone from without but it is someone from within? Even Paul said that there are two types of enemies, one that is from the outside and one from within. The one from the outside is the most dangerous, because they cover their hatred with a smile and flattery. They appear to be for you but all the while they are plotting your demise, they are Cain, Miriam, Joseph's brother's, Noah's son, Jacob (stole birthright), Judas, and so much more.

Here we find a story of two women living in the same house sharing the same husband. One gives birth and the other is barren. Why is it that the one who is blessed always despises the one who is barren? Could it be that their security is in the fact that they have more than you. Could it be that rather than praying for your blessing they want to beat you while they you are down. Recently someone called me from Tennessee that had a dream about me. He said there are voices that are speaking against you trying to curse you. There is one problem with this, and it is the fact that you can't curse what God has blessed (Numbers 23:8). In fact the more you try to curse me, the more blessed I will be.

Though Hannah was barren she recieved a double blessing. God is about to take those who have not birthed, who have not arrived, who have not reached success, who are still waiting, and He is going to give them double for their trouble. Why? Because when God gets done with you, He will be the only one who will be able to get the credit for it. It is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in their eyes!

Friends create comfort but your enemy creates movement. They are the provoker of forward progress in your life. God is using them to position you for the greatest blessing yet.

What do you do if you are barren!

1) Rejoice for more are the children of the barren woman... (Iss. 54:1-3)
* Every time God got ready to do something great in the earth, he chose a barren woman.

2) Prophecy over yourself, call those things that are not as though they were...

3) Hang around people who are pregant, what's on them will get on you.

4) Be passionate about your dream. Speak it, dream it, write it, sing it...

5) Sing, God gives a song for every season. Most people are like Miriam who sang a song after God delivered the Isrealites from the Egyptians, but you must learn to sing the right song on the wrong side. It is called a song of deliverance (Ps. 32:7). In other words the song you sing becomes the song of deliverance. What was designed to frustrate you and hold you can not hold you anymore (Acts 12)

6) Encourage someone else in their dream. What you make happen for others God will make happen for you. What you release towards others will boomerang onto you.

Blessings,
Craig