I've Been Thinking About This…

I’m thinking of all the times Israel went to war and won against incredible odds over the course of the Old Testament. Here’s a list off the top of my head – I’m sure there are more – feel free to add others in the comments and I’ll retrofit them:

• Abram takes 318 men to battle against the united kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam and Goiim (who had already defeated Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar) – Gen 14:14
• Gideon leads 300 men (of the original 32,000) against the Midianites and Amalekites and the ‘children of the East’ without number – Judges 7:7
• Jonathan and his armor-bearer climb a cliff and kill the garrison (which turned out to be 20 Philistines) – 1 Sam 14:13
• Ahab of Samaria in Israel (the northern kingdom) can raise just 232 commanders and 7,000 troops against Syria and 32 other kingdoms and routes them – 1 Kings 20:15
• Ahab in Israel again against the same enemy – the Israelites kill 100,000, and city walls fall on 27,000 more – 1 Kings 20:29
• Asa raises 580,000 men of Judah & Benjamin against 1,000,000 from Ethiopia. The Ethiopians run away – 2 Chron 14:8
• Hezekiah besieged in Jerusalem and can raise only a prayer; the Assyrians lose 185,000 men – 2 Kings 19:35

So what’s the big deal for me when I go out to fight my Goliaths? My enemies aren’t trying to poke holes in me with swords; they’re trying to poke holes in my walk with God instead. Four problem areas come to mind immediately where these enemies are trying to work against me:

1. Waiting – sometimes I want to get going.I think part of this command (just look at all these “Wait on the Lord”s – Ps 27:14; Ps 37:9; Ps 37:34; Prov 20:22; Isa 40:31; Zeph 3:8) has to do with keeping us centered on Him, although the more obvious bits have to do with curbing our impatience and coordinating His plan across several people’s activities.

   Where battle is concerned, how about Saul getting tired of waiting for Samuel (1 Sam 13:9-14)? When he didn’t wait on the Lord, he lost the dynasty for his descendants.

   Or where home life is concerned, how about Sarai and Abram taking matters into their own hands by using Hagar? (Gen 16:1-4) Never a good idea to run God’s plan for Him.

2. Listening – sometimes it’s a struggle.Quite a lot of the time I used to find myself (a) getting an idea, then (b) working out how to execute it, then (c) bringing it to the Lord and saying, “What do you think? Good, huh?” and I justified this process by saying that we are expected to use our brains – that’s why God gave them to us.

   But God wants a different process, and I’m determined to move into this pattern. After (a) the idea, He wants us to (b) bring it to Him, and (c) work out how to execute it while being open to His guidance. I liked the other way because it meant that I had control over how the idea was to be executed. But pushing God out of the picture so I can have my own way – that’s pretty much the definition of sin, right? So I’m trying to move away from that pattern.

3. Understanding – sometimes I just don’t get what He’s saying.No duh – God’s thoughts are pretty sublime, after all (Isa 55:9; 1 Cor 1:18). But He’s very good at making those lofty thoughts simple for me. Usually when I just don’t get it, it’s because there’s something else I’ve put in the way. I’m determined to go in a certain direction, and God has His work cut out to redirect me. This is the hardest of all of these points for me right now, but (Prov 3:5) I’m working on it.
4. Obeying – sometimes I don’t want to do it.Confronted with something we don’t want to do, I think the human response is to find some alternative that is more acceptable. Busywork! It’s like a sacrifice – “Look at how good I’m being and how hard I’m working.” (Psa 40:6; Ps 51:17; esp. 1 Sam 15:22) Unfortunately for our escape plan, God doesn’t want the alternative we’ve come up with. Sin again.

I’m sure I’ll come up with others soon – I’ll leave them for another post.

   Send article as PDF