"The Battle is the Lords"

"For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand" - 1 Samuel 17:47

Last night at campaigners (Young Life's bible study with high school students), we studied the childhood classic "David and Goliath" in 1 Samuel 16-17.  On a side note, it's so interesting to see what crazy things are left out when you are a child.  The Bible is as graphic as a battle scene from an R-rated movie sometimes. For example, 1 Samuel 17:51,54 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it...And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem." Okay, so you cannot tell me that the Bible is boring.  

This morning when reading, I thought about another Old Testament favorite of mine, maybe a little less known, Gideon in Judges 6-7.  When reading, I noticed some awesome similarities between both.

• David and Gideon were both unexpected leaders to victory due to their worldly statuses (David being a shepherd and the youngest in his family; Gideon being the youngest in his house and a member of a weak family - but as it says in 1 Samuel 16:7 - "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
• The Spirit of the Lord came upon them both (Judges 6:34, 1 Samuel 16:13) - God gave them His strength and blessing to be able to accomplish the call He had placed on each of their lives.
• Each had a HUGE opponent to face! David was a small, young guy against a 9 ft giant of an enormous army.  Gideon ended up with an army of 300 against a group described as "...the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance." WOW
• God reminded them of His faithfulness before - to encourage them to stand courageously again.  David was confident that the giant was no more threatening than the lions and bears he had killed to save his sheep (1 Samuel 17:34, 37)  "And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Gideon was reminded of the Lord's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and all who oppressed them (Judges 6:8-9).
• The Lord worked despite the fear.  He prepared them both and showed them the affirmation they needed to step out in faith against the enemies that caused so much fear and threat.  Saul, the King of Israel, and the Israelites were greatly afraid and dismayed (1 Samuel 17:11). Gideon argued with the angel of the Lord basically saying, I think you found the wrong guy. I'm hiding from the Midianties in a winepress (pit carved into a rock) remember (Judges 6:13-15)??
• Ultimately, in my opinion the most INCREDIBLE similarity is that the Lord fought the battles and delivered His people like He promised to in each instance. He was faithful, again.

It wasn't easy, the servants of the Lord weren't fearless, people thought the servants of the Lord were crazy, and the Lord did not give the servants of the Lord a victory in a way that most would expect.  He used a rock to the head of a giant to kill Goliath - and He used 300 soldiers with only lanterns, jars of clay, and trumpets to defeat the Midianites.  Why? Because the Lord did not want people to fear the Israelites or David or Gideon, He wanted the enemies to fear the Lord, the God of Israel.  The Lord fought the battle and won in a way that only HE would receive the credit and glory.  That was the very reason he gave to Gideon when he shrunk the Israelite army from 22,000 to 300, "The Lord said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, "My own hand has saved me" (Judges 7:2).  

So, what battle are you afraid to face today? Are you trying to fight it on your own - or are you asking the Spirit of the Lord to equip you to face whatever it is the Lord has before you?  It could be a broken past, an uncertain future, or any daily trouble we experience.  Do you believe the Lord will fight for you (Exodus 14:14 ) - and that He wants to glorify His name through His victories over the battles in your life?  Are you giving Him a chance to show you how much He loves you?  Do you trust and have faith he will deliver you from the enormous opponent in front of you, maybe in a way that you would not expect? Take heart and stand firm like David and Gideon! You are loved by the Creator and Maker of the universe (Isaiah 51:12-15).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,  for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28

 Photo from the weekend: My Nana's memorial dove release overlooking Maple Lake in Bridgeport