I've actually tried to explain American football to people from another country. It's not easy. Sometimes it's not easy to explain it to someone from this country, especially to some women who don't really care much about how it's played.

But I want you to imagine a man trying to explain football to an acquaintance who has never seen it. And his friend says to him, "You know, I'd like to learn to play football. Will you teach me how?" So, the man who knows how says, "Oh sure! It's this little pointy leather ball and there's this long field. There's 100 yards, it's got some white marks on it. All you have to do is pick up the ball and run from one end of the field to the other. If you do that enough, you win." "Hey, okie dokie!"

So the man takes off; returns a month later. The problem is he's all bandaged up, he's limping, his arm is in a cast, and the man who taught him football says, "What happened!?" His acquaintance says, "Well, you told me about the ball, and you told me about the field, and you told me about running. There's one thing you forgot to tell me: you didn't tell me there would be 11 gorillas trying to stop me."

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Open Door and Your Open War."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 16:9. The Apostle Paul says, "There is a great and effective door open to me, and there are many adversaries." That's actually a law of the kingdom. Spiritual opportunity is always accompanied by opposition: Open door - many adversaries. It just happens like that. They're like Siamese twins, they can't be separated.

Now, it's important for you to realize that, because it would explain some of the storm you're going through right now. See, if God is starting to use you, the devil is starting to fight you. And you're saying, "What's wrong?" Well, nothing may be wrong. It may very well be that you're just about to enter a great open door where you can really make a greater difference than you've ever made before, and the devil knows this is the time he's got to stop you.

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, "The greatest sign of God's will and power is the devil's growl." Maybe you're hearing the growl right now. That's a compliment. You're saying, "Why is this all happening now when there's such an open door?" Because there is an open door! Open door - many adversaries. Opportunity - opposition. Satan knows it's going to be hard to stop you once God's plans really start to unfold. He's got to get you at the door.

And it's not always the obvious connection to the open door. He may go after your health, your family, your car, your money. The devil doesn't give up ground easily, but you know what? He's already defeated. If God starts to open doors and give opportunities, you begin to pray more intensely for the protection for you and your family that's available in the Name of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that "He made a public spectacle of them (Satan's army), triumphing over them by His cross." Under the blood of Jesus Christ you cannot be touched. And you come under that protection. You pray against discouragement, and depression, and giving up just because there's some push back from the other side. It actually means something very important is about to happen.

Serving the Lord is much like football. As soon as you start gaining ground spiritually, the other side starts to come after you. When you charge, they charge. That's something to be aware of, but it's not something to be afraid of. Just keep running toward that open door, because you have the Son of God blocking for you.