Royalty. Justice. Service.
All responsibility heavied on his shoulders as man after man kneeled before him. Israel was at his feet.
Miles away, strong and angry men planned against the new king. They raided in the valley, waiting.
"God, what do I do?" the king asked.
"Fight, for I will give them to you."
In courage, he walked on and wiped out the men in overwhelming defeat.
With a knee on the ground, he cried out loud, "I give glory to Him who overwhelms my enemies like an overwhelming flood."
Peace followed for some time, but the enemies raided in the valley once more.
"God, what do I do?"
"Wait at the top of the mulberry trees. When the sound of marching floods the earth, go and fight, for I will have already gone ahead to fight for you."
The king obeyed.
His enemies were conquered, the king's fame spread throughout the earth, and true glory was given to the Lord.
Stories like these wake inside me a desire to trust, to fight, to conquer. I've spent the last few months thinking a lot about war. Specifically, the kind that wages inside me and inside each one of us.
What is that makes me want to crawl in bed and hide? The fear of failing in the fight.
I cringe at the thought of being weak, of not being strong enough to stand against the attacks of my enemies.
But then I think of this story. How King David "went to the fortress" (2 Sam. 5:17) whenever a battle emerged and asked God what to do. In every situation, God guided him and entrusted him with overwhelming defeat over his enemies. King David trusted God and obeyed Him.
That's the thing. It's so hard for me to trust a God I don't see, especially when my enemies (such as my own thoughts, other people or tragic situations) are raging in the valley, waiting to prey on me.
But I'm done with letting my heart quiver in fear. I am done with letting my enemies get the best of me, with letting the war wage on as I stand to watch others and myself fall in defeat.
My fingers are trembling as I type these words because I know taking a stand doesn't soften the war. I expect things to get harder. I know people will judge me, that I will judge myself.
But something inside me wants me to tell you this.
The thoughts that keep drowning you, the situations that keep draining you and the people that keep degrading you have NO say in who you are and what you can do.
If you have faith in the Creator of this universe, and if you have placed your life in the hands of Jesus Christ,
God has ALREADY gone ahead to fight for you.
you are ALREADY a conqueror over the battle,
victory is ALREADY yours.
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