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I’ll never forget a conversation I had with someone after a Sunday altar call.

Tears still in their eyes, they looked at me and said,
"Pastor, I just feel so heavy. I think the enemy’s really been on me lately."

And I heard myself say it before I had a chance to think:
"What if that wasn’t the enemy at all? What if it was the Holy Spirit finally getting through?"

They blinked.
And then they started weeping again.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped knowing the difference.

We started calling conviction “oppression,”
started labeling holy discomfort as spiritual warfare,
and began blaming the devil for every ache, every stirring, every moment when the Holy Ghost was actually trying to pull us out of what we were never meant to live in.

I’ve heard it my whole life.

“That’s just the enemy trying to steal your joy.”
“You better rebuke that spirit!”
“That heaviness? That’s demonic attack.”

But what if we’ve been rebuking the very Presence that came to rescue us?

Conviction Isn’t the Curse, It’s the Call

We’ve trained a generation to believe that if it doesn’t feel good, it’s not from God.
That if it presses on your chest or disrupts your sleep or exposes a sin you’ve hidden well…
it must be an attack.

But Scripture paints a different picture.

“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”
- Hebrews 12:6 (KJV)

God doesn’t convict you to punish you.
He convicts you to prove you’re still His.

Conviction is proof of connection.
It’s a spiritual pulse check that says, “You’re not dead yet. I still see you. I still want you.”

David Felt It Too

When David sinned, he didn’t rebuke a devil.
He didn’t bind a spirit of discouragement.
He fell on his face and begged God not to take His presence away.

“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation…”
- Psalm 51:11–12 (KJV)

David wasn’t worried about his reputation.
He was terrified of losing the voice that still corrected him.

Because when conviction stops you should worry.

You’re Not Under Attack. You’re Under Arrest.

That heaviness you feel?

It’s not always hell.
Sometimes it’s Heaven.
The Spirit of Truth still shows up to confront what’s killing you.

But instead of surrendering, we shout:
“Get behind me, Satan!”

And the Holy Ghost responds,
“I’m not your enemy, I’m your only way out.”

What you feel isn’t an attack.
It’s an intervention.
And what you’ve been calling warfare might just be the mercy of God disrupting your rebellion.

The Real Enemy Was the Agreement

Let’s be real.

The devil didn’t bind you, agreement did.
The enemy didn’t drag you into that pattern, you walked into it and made yourself at home.

But the Holy Spirit comes not just to convict you of what’s wrong,
He comes to call you into what’s right.

And He’ll keep knocking,
keep stirring,
keep showing up in the middle of your compromise…
until you finally realize:

He’s not attacking you.
He’s rescuing you.

Stop Rebuking the Rescue

If it’s making you uncomfortable,
if it’s exposing something that’s been hiding,
if it’s pricking your heart or pressing on your pride,

pause before you rebuke it.

It might just be the Spirit of God
breaking through the noise,
pulling you from the ledge,
and calling you back into freedom.

Because conviction isn’t God giving up on you.
It’s God breaking in.

Let Him

 

“Don’t rebuke what God sent to rescue you. Conviction isn’t your enemy, it’s proof Heaven hasn’t gone silent.”


-- Associate Pastor Jason Hepler
Frostproof Church of God