Have you ever experienced opposition in the midst of your time of serving? Here you are… giving of your time and energy, volunteering at the church, giving your best, and along comes someone or some situation that causes you so much frustration. Maybe while you're at your job, you are making strides, have new ideas, and all of a sudden roadblocks come out of nowhere to stop the progress; distractions show up and attempt to hinder the momentum.
Jesus, in Matthew 16, began to share with the disciples who he was and what was about to take place. When they realized that he was the Anointed One, he was able to tell them all he would go through. How did know? God the Father had sent him with an assignment and he was sure of his purpose here on the earth...he was born to die and be resurrected in 3 days. Peter stepped up and said to Jesus no no no. You can't let that happen. I'll never allow it… Jesus rebuked him and called him Satan andtold him to GET BEHIND ME! Peter had become an obstacle to Jesus fulfilling his purpose… a distraction… a frustration in the midst of serving. But if you look at it from Peter's perspective, he had never heard of such a thing before. Who would give themselves over to be killed? Peter loved Jesus and knew that he was the Son of God. So of course he would try to stop him. But Jesus knew what he was there to do. He understood his purpose. That's why he was able to recognize what was going on and spoke to the spirit of distraction and confusion and told it to get out of of his way.
So if you're facing major opposition while serving let me encourage you to become reacquainted with your purpose and assignment of why your serving or working or whatever it is you're pursuing. Then understand that the frustrations are just distractions that come along with the journey of your pursuit of purpose. They will make you better, stronger, more sure of your calling. Don't allow yourself to get off course. Hold fast to what the Lord spoke to you, then set your face like a flint because you know that the Lord is with you, he helps you, you will not be ashamed (Is 50:7) and he is causing all things to work for your good.