Written by Evi Idoghor
Well-meaning people are people who typically appear to mean good for you, especially when it seems you are stuck in a rot. They tend to proffer all sorts of unsolicited advice to get you out: however, watch out, the enemy might just be using them to bring about his agenda. Now, this is not to say that these people are evil and want to see you fail; that is not the point of this matter at hand. In fact, they themselves do not know that they are being used by the enemy to coerce you into stepping out of God’s will for your life.
I remember when I was about to travel to Nigeria in 2017, many people advised against it. “How are you going to get back into the US? What if they don’t let you back in?” They asked with concerned looks on their faces. The immigration issue in the US was a hot topic at the time as people were being refused visas or deported for various reasons. I heard horror stories about this new reality that came with the newly elected United States President and I was scared out of my mind.
Yet, I had a longing to go home. I cried out to God daily for a resolution, but I kept hearing Jeremiah 29:11—I know the thoughts I think towards you.
I couldn’t really explain to these well-meaning people that perhaps, God wanted me to go home and would have everything sorted. So, I just went home anyway. Fast-forward to about a month after my trip when it was time for me to return to my little apartment in my tiny city—I got deported; what I dreaded the most became my reality.
Maybe these well-meaning people were right all along. However, in hindsight, almost four years after the dreadful incident, I said to myself the other day; getting deported was the best thing that ever happened to me. Yes, such a strong statement to make.
But if you know my story, and compare where I am now, to where I was in 2016/2017, my life is certainly not the same. I have a better understanding of what Jeremiah 29:11 meant to my situation at the time, and even now.
How to spot well-meaning people
Surely, I am not the only one who has experienced well-meaning people, Jesus did too. When the enemy wants to come against you, he doesn’t go all the way out all the time. In certain circumstances, he creeps in like a snake and begins to sow seeds of doubt and unbelief in your heart through those closest to you. And you must be quick to recognize his schemes, just as Christ did, and rebuke him.
In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus went from praising Peter for speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit about who Christ really was, to immediately rebuking him when he said some well-meaning things. Jesus was in a tough place; He was about to be crucified and was already grappling with the fact He had to go to the cross.
Then in verse 23, after He had revealed to His followers all the things He was about to suffer, Peter took Him (Jesus) aside and began to rebuke Him, as if to say—those things which you speak off are not right and you will not go through them.
Yet Jesus, who was always full of the Spirit, was quick to recognize that it wasn’t Peter speaking but the devil who didn’t want Him to save you and me by dying on the cross. Then He said to him—“get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me.” If Jesus did not know that it was the enemy speaking, perhaps He would never have made it to the cross to fulfill His purpose. Sometimes we mix the two up—if someone is making my life difficult then it must be the devil, and if someone is telling me things I want to hear, then it must be God.
However, it doesn’t always happen that way. This is why we should be discerning at all times. When I was at the airport in Atlanta pleading my case, there was this African American woman who kept on blocking everything I was saying, in order to convince her boss to grant me access into the US. There was even a time her boss’s mind softened up, and she said—I am not going to let you in even if my boss says otherwise! This had to be Satan right?
If it doesn’t seem easy, it doesn’t mean it is not from God.
Advertisement
At the time I truly thought he was the one (because I am Nigerian and we always blame the devil for everything.) However, I now believe that it was God all along. If they had let me in, I honestly cannot tell you where my life would be at this moment. But God used that annoying woman to accomplish His purpose for my life.
More Examples of Well-meaning People in the Bible
Another well-meaning person was Job’s wife. After all the heartache they had been through together, especially witnessing her husband waste away before her very eyes, she spoke to him saying—“curse God and die!” Now, if Job had listened to her the blessings which they received, in the end, would never have come to be.
Yet he persevered even through the most difficult of circumstances and came out on the other side with not just the blessings, but with a better understanding of who God was. Now, if God only came to us through easy situations, none of our lives would be refined. Complacency would be our number one purpose killer; but just like any good parent, He knows that if He doesn’t force us out of certain situations, we will never become who He created us to be.
Ensure You Don't Fall Prey To Well-meaning People
One person in the Bible who gave into his well-meaning person was the young man of God, who we have spoken about on the blog. God had told him to deliver a message to a king about judgment and not to eat, drink or sleep in that city, or even go back the same way he came until he got back to his destination after the delivery. However, on his way, he met an old prophet, who pulled the same trick the serpent pulled on Eve in the beginning.
He deceived the young man of God to eat and drink at his place, even after the man had told him what God had specifically instructed him. This young man then obliged, and the mind-blowing thing was that God then spoke through the old prophet who had previously deceived the young man, bringing immediate judgment upon him.
The young man was killed by a lion on his way. This story just goes to show you how one person can be used by God and the enemy, just as it were with the case of Peter. It is now left to us to keep sentiments aside and decipher who is really speaking at a particular moment so we don’t miss out on what God wants to accomplish through us.
What do you think about this article? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and also remember to share & subscribe, never to miss an update.
Don’t stop here; click this link to see all our Bible Study segment has to offer.