Thursday, October 30, 2008

Stand Silently, Praise Loudly

One of the greatest comforts of our Christian life is knowing that the battle is not ours. There are SO many passages which point to this, one of my favorites is 2 Chronicles 20: 15-19:

"thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's......'You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.....The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel, with a very loud voice. "

There are many passages which say the same thing or illustrate it with Israel and in the New Testament with Christians. Too many to number, but here are some:

  • Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent."
  • Deuteronomy 1:30 "The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, "
  • Haggai 2:5 "As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!' "
  • Proverbs 21:31 "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the LORD. "
These are not mere sayings, there are numerous examples of the few of God through an angel or His people, defeating the multitude of the enemy. Such as the angel of the Lord killing 185,000 in one night (2 Kings 19:35 / Isaiah 37:36)......100,000 killed by 7,232 in (1 Kings 20:29).......etc.

The fact that there is Spiritual warfare which is unseen to us is well documented in the Bible. What is amazing is that many people who don't want to believe the Bible, DO believe in the supernatural....as long as it doesn't ask them to obey and believe!

The Old Testament story of Balaam and his donkey is very interesting, starting at Numbers 22:22 the donkey sees an angel which the man does not and refuses to pass. Balaam gets mad at his animal and starts to strike him, at which point the angel appears to Balaam and explains that the donkey's actions saved Balaam's life!

No matter what, we must always remember to wait silently for God to act on our behalf, and when it's all over, praise LOUDLY, no matter what the outcome! I praise Him for everything! He is awesome!