Sometimes God wants to put an exclamation mark on a lesson He is teaching. Today is an exclamation point day.
Yesterday’s message was repeated for me on a grander scale. The northern kings banded together believing this was their best defense against God and His army. They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore (4). Describing the king’s army as ‘as numerous as the sand on the seashore’ seems to be a deliberate play on the promise given to Abraham back in Genesis.
The message seems clear, even an army equal to or larger than God’s people stands no chance. It is not God’s people, but God Himself, through His people, who fights the battle and wins. The battle is summarized in few words… underlining that a battle against God is never truly a battle. The outcome is never in doubt. The Lord wins… decisively!
The account pricks my heart in a couple of places.
First, God wins. A long time ago I heard an interview with Dr. Billy Graham. One of his lines has stuck with me since that day. Billy said something like this, “I have read the end of the Bible, God wins.” How true that is. No matter what happens to me personally, God wins and all those in God’s family will be with Him forever in His victorious kingdom.
Two, this leads to my second heart-prick: it is not about me; it is about the Lord. As much as I take solace in being on God’s side –the winning side –life is not about me, it is about God’s name and ultimate victory. I may die for the cause. I may be wounded. I may be part of the decisive winning battle. I do not know and it does not truly matter. What does matter is that I fulfill the role the Lord has for me and that I do my best in serving Him.
I live to serve the Lord and this is the end of the matter…
Lord, God, I stand before You today, reporting for duty. Send me, Lord, to do Your bidding… I am Yours, Lord. I am Yours. Through Jesus, my Commander and Lord, I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment