Overcoming the Adversary of Circumstance

From the archives of Evelyn RobertsFirst of four parts

The Apostle Paul once wrote to the Corinthians: “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (I Corinthians 16:9). This verse says to me that for every one of God’s great opportunities, the devil has an adversary he will attempt to put in our way to keep us from doing God’s will. Sometimes that adversary comes in the form of circumstances.

When I was a girl my parents were saved, and shortly thereafter, they decided to move from Missouri to Oklahoma so they could put their children in a Christian school and attend a church where the power of the Lord was real. I believe that was a vital part of God’s plan for my life. He knew that there, in Oklahoma, a young man was growing up who was going to have an impact on this world for God, and that I was to be his wife.

Circumstances, however, seemed to keep us apart. I first met Oral when I was 19 years old and had taught school for a year. We were at a church camp meeting and the minute I laid my eyes on Oral, the Lord spoke in my heart that he was going to be my husband. The Lord, however, didn’t speak anything to Oral’s heart at that time! After the camp meeting, he went home to southern Oklahoma, and I returned to my home in northern Oklahoma.

At the end of the summer, our church conference sent Oral’s parents to pastor in my little hometown. But, by that time, I had already gone to Texas to resume teaching!

I couldn’t see any way that Oral and I were ever going to meet again, much less begin to date. But, the Lord had a way. The people in my hometown started telling Oral about a girl named Evelyn, and Oral liked what he heard. He sent me a little book he had written. I responded with a thank-you letter. We began to write to one another. And in September of 1938, Oral made a trip with his mother down to Texas to meet me. We were together one weekend and he proposed, I accepted, and three months later we were married.

Are you in a situation today where you believe the Lord is opening a great door of opportunity for what God has planned for you, but circumstances seem to be working against you? Stand firm in your faith. Keep believing God. When God opens a door of opportunity for you, He will also provide a way through the adversary of circumstances!

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