O’ No, I Can’t Come Down

O’ No, I Can’t Come Down

by Kateb Nuri-Alim Shunnar

Everyone that smiles in your face is not your friend.

When you’ve got a real relationship with the Creator, your spirit gets tuned in. You start picking up frequencies most folks can’t even hear. It’s like when the trees rustle before a storm ok you can feel something shifting before it hits. That’s discernment. That’s the Creator whispering, “Watch that one. Be still. Stay ready.”

And my grandmother bless her soul used to say, “Baby, the devil’ll tell you 99 truths just to feed you one big lie.” And it’s that one lie that'll put a wedge between you and the Creator. It won’t show up dressed in red with horns. No. It’ll come looking like everything you prayed for sweet voice, good energy, the right words, the right smile. But underneath? It’s bait. A distraction in disguise.

See, if the devil can’t destroy you like a roaring lion, he’ll show up looking like an angel of light smooth, familiar, charming. He’ll use whatever or whoever you like to pull you away from what’s meant for you.

Let me tell you a little story. A parable that speaks to this:

There was once a strong, tall oak tree on a hill. Firmly rooted, branches wide, leaves dancing in the wind. Birds nested in it. Travelers rested under it. It was a shelter, a place of strength. One day, a vine crept up from the bottom green, beautiful, harmless-looking. The oak didn’t notice at first. The vine said, “I just want to be close to you.” And the oak, feeling generous, allowed it.

But day by day, the vine tightened its grip. It wrapped around the trunk. Slithered up the branches. Covered the leaves. And before long, that proud oak started to suffocate under the weight of something it thought was harmless. What once looked like companionship was really slow sabotage.

That's how sabotage works. It's quiet. Pretty. Sometimes even flattering. But it wants your light, your breath, your roots. That’s why we can’t afford to be ignorant of the enemy’s tactics. And don’t get it twisted the enemy doesn’t always come with fangs. Sometimes it smiles in your face.

Let me break it down even more there are five big tools that get used against you when something holy is moving in your life:

1. Derision When folks can't figure you out, they laugh at you. They mock what they don't understand. You ever seen crows harassing an eagle in flight? The eagle just soars higher. It doesn’t come down to fuss. It rises.

2. Discouragement The kind that sneaks in like clouds over the sun, whispering, “You’re not enough. It’s not working. Just stop.”

3. Discord & Division Just like in Nehemiah’s time. Internal strife. Folks turning on each other instead of building together. They knew if they couldn’t stop the wall from being built from the outside, they’d break the builders on the inside.

4. Depletion & Debt Not just financial, but spiritual debt too. Like when you give and give until you’ve got nothing left not even for yourself. Nehemiah 5:2–6 breaks this all the way down. People mortgaged their fields and sold their children just to survive. That kind of lack? It’ll choke your hope.

5. Distractions The loudest one of them all. Distractions don’t always look like trouble. Sometimes they look like opportunities. But anything that pulls you out of alignment with the Creator’s plan is a setup in disguise.

That’s why I can’t come down. I’m doing a great work up here. I’m climbing my own mountain, tending to my own garden, staying aligned with the Creator. And I’m not stepping away from this sacred place I’ve built just to explain myself to somebody who ain’t even listening.

I won’t come down to argue.

I won’t come down to fight.

I won’t come down to dance with chaos or meet bitterness halfway.

Because up here, I’ve got clarity. Up here, I’ve got peace. And I’m not trading that for noise.

Say it with me “O’ no, I can’t come down.”

When you start rising, low frequencies will try to pull you back old habits, jealous spirits, even people you love. But where I’m going, not everybody can follow. And I’ve made peace with that.

You ever watch geese fly in formation? When one falls behind, the others honk, calling it forward. But if one can’t keep up, they don’t all turn around. They keep going. Purpose has its own rhythm. It doesn’t wait for folks who chose comfort over calling.

So yeah, next time somebody shows up in your life, don’t just look at their smile ask their spirit, “Who sent you?” ‘Cause not everyone is sent by the Creator. Some are sent to see what they can steal.

I don’t know if you agree, and that’s okay. You’ve got your walk, and I’ve got mine. But as for me? I’ve got too much on the line. My family. My healing. My legacy. Generations I’ll never meet are depending on what I do right now.

So again O’ no, I can’t come down.

Let the storms blow. Let the critics talk. Let the vines try to climb.

I’m staying rooted. I’m staying focused.

And I’m staying up.