THE TRAP OF COMPROMISE

Jacob’s name was changed. As Jacob he had nothing, but as a prince of God he entered into a relationship with his Heavenly Father that gave him power to meet the circumstances of life. You, too, have been given the Name of Jesus!

But there is one other danger Jacob was subjected to because of fear and lack of understanding of who he was and it is a danger that we all face. It is the tendency to compromise.

In his fear of Esau and his misunderstanding of his own situation and position, Jacob nearly fell into the dangerous trap of compromise. God told Jacob to return to his homeland and that it would be well with him and he would be blessed. Doubting that promise and continuing to act out of fear, Jacob laid out plans for compromising with the enemy.

We have already seen what great power Jacob had with God. I believe that if Esau had been hostile as Jacob feared he would be, just one word from Jacob’s lips would have brought God’s judgment down upon Esau. But Jacob wasn’t thinking about how to win and overcome, he was still thinking about how to connive, compromise, and perhaps end up with at least a partial victory instead of losing everything. He planned to try to win Esau over with bribes and promises.

The biggest temptation which you and I will face when we come up against problems in this life is to compromise. The temptation to compromise is often very strong and it comes in many ways. A church may want to win a city for God. They have the power to win the city, but what they do is to let down the standards, compromise, and try to get the people of the city into the Church that way.

There are many Christians who started out to work for God, hot-hearted and on fire, who knew how to pray and how to yield themselves to the moving of the Holy Spirit, but there are many who have become sidetracked by compromise.

God has blessed this ministry in a wonderful way and we are meeting new challenges all the time in the power that God has provided. But I want to tell you that there have been times in my ministry when men of influence and wealth have come to me with glowing plans of how this ministry could be enlarged through compromise. There were those who came to me and said, “Look, you can really be somebody. We will stand behind your ministry and you will have a lot of influence and prestige if you will just tone down your ministry to the sick, if you will just tone down the way your services go.”

Thank God we didn’t compromise. God has honored His Word and has sent partners to stand with us and hold up our hands in this great work of God. The power of God and the demonstration of the Holy Spirit is the mainspring of this work. I’ve said it often and I’ll say it again: “This is not the work of a man, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit of the living God.”

Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. Don’t consider the unwise counsel of those around you.

Don’t compromise!