“With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.” (2 Chr. 32:8).
It is only a man or woman who knows God as victorious in battle that can speak like the old King of Judah. It is one thing to go around “confessing” victory, pretending that you made spiritual conquests and carry a fake résumé of success and it is entirely another thing with grime and mud on your gun and uniform coming back from the field of battle alive and talking.
What is all this talk of victory without any fighting? For instance, we can study and report on the Operation New Dawn campaign in Iraq and recall all the facts about it, but nothing replaces the perspective of a soldier who has been in such a war. How can we say he always causes us to” triumph in Christ” and thanks be unto “God who gives us the victory” if there has been no struggle against the unseen forces of darkness. Let me state as I have previously, struggle is not loss; it is a sign of life. Scrapes and scratches are proof of a scuffle. Wounds, injuries and bruises are only proof of greater fighting. But none of these are a sign of defeat, just challenges that could not stand against us as God’s children.
Hezekiah’s words put courage and life back into his people. The people “rested upon his words.” They relied and trusted in the word of the king. It put confidence and life back into the battle weary people. Your heavenly King has given you a life giving word in the scripture. Oh that we could rest upon the words of the Lord. As we ponder and contemplate his Word he calms us down spiritually, mentally and physically. Then our soul would quiet itself like a weaned child, we would see God is more than enough and being afraid of anything else is a waste of time.
All of the weapons, the difficulties and the trials we go through are described under one heading: flesh. King Jesus said this: “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63). Here is a huge army as far as the eye can see outnumbering Judah and the demonic words of the enemy army’s general screaming at them. All the odds are against them, but hell is overpowered by the omnipotent Holy Spirit and the Spirit inspired words of the king. Matthew Henry comments, “…a believing confidence in God will raise us above the prevailing fear of man.” What others are afraid of, we will not be afraid of. The Bible says a few verses later, “And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace.” (2 Chr. 32:21).
Here is the word of the Lord for you today my friend, “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?” (Isa. 51:12-13). No matter how great the enemy, no distress has Almighty power. They are embarrassingly limited, confined and restricted. God asks where are they? God metaphorically says that they are so small he cannot see them! How can he take their threat seriously? The Lord is so great; his majestic power cannot be measured or gauged.
Yes, your difficulty is very real and that God sees and go through it with you. He does see your pain, that is very clear to him. That is why JESUS is so wonderful. “…He had to enter into every detail of human life…all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.” (Heb 2: 17-18MSG). Jesus was not just an object lesson or an example he went through things vicariously, he suffered for us so he could help us with understanding and compassion.
Yet we must rest upon the words of the King. “All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.” (1 Cor. 10:13MSG). The trial has an end, it is not forever though it may seem that way. It will lose its strength and the clock is ticking. It is almost over. It can only go as far as the Lord says and that is it!
© 2012 Soul Health Care Ministries, If you share this article just let them know about us and where it came from.