God Strikes, Our Reward - 7/26/07

2 Chronicles 20:15 & 17, "...Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you."

The verse above is the response that the king Jehoshaphat received from a prophet in the crowd after he had prayed for God's help. Since the people attacking Judah were the result of obedience toward God rather than disobedience, the picture changed for the people of Judah. And so did the battle. "The battle is not yours, it's the Lord's." Johoshaphat prayed for protection against vast armies mounting an attack, and through the mouth of another that God sent him encouragement.

His prayer is a good model for one seeking protection or help from God. While praying, he brought to mind the fact that the armies approaching were from the lands God told Israel not to attack upon delivering them to the promised land. He humbled himself before God; not pointing his finger and saying, "This is your fault!" but rather, he stressed God's power and that the people did not know what to do, but they would still fix their eyes upon God. They relied totally upon God, trusting His power and favor to deliver them.

The people of Judah were told only to go out and face the oncoming armies. Not to get their weapons. Not to fortify their homes. They were asked to step out in faith, and to watch what the Lord would do. This reminds me of the verse in Isaiah that says, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper."

God used the weapons brought to destroy Judah against those who wielded them. They all slaughtered each other in the presence of the servants of the Lord. The battle truly was the Lord's, since the people of Judah didn't enter into the fight for a second. We see here that though Judah faced a great challenge as a result of their obedience, God protectd them and made sure they would not suffer for it. All they were asked to do was to step up and face their enemies while relying on the strength and promise of the Lord.

Following God does not mean we should fear a backlash from the enemy. If our obedience leads to a threatening situation, we can be sure God will deliver us from it - for that is an example of when the battle is not ours, but the Lord's. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world!

The Waiting Room - 7/24/2007

1 Samuel 13:8-14, "He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. 9 So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 "What have you done?" asked Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, 12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."
13 "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."

I am in a waiting room right now, so to speak. I am waiting on the interviews and job offers to start at the beginning of August. Teaching is a seasonal job, and consequently so is the hiring. Anxiety has set in, and I've found myself planning an imaginary move to nearby cities to "set up shop" and create the illusion of progress for myself. Although, I have pending applictions in several cities and the one I choose to move to doesn't necessarily mean that's the city in which I will be hired. Only God knows which one that is.

Waiting on God is an important part of following God. We may look around, as Saul's soldiers did, and feel anxious - pressuring ourselves into making a move. But if we move on our own timing instead of His, we probably will miss out on the incredible blessing He's arranging behind the scenes. God is perfect, so is His timing. We are imperfect, and so is our timing.

I have been reading the book Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets off and on. Today I picked it up, and the author alluded to this part of 1 Samuel to emphasize the importance of waiting on God. God, through the prophet Samuel, commanded Saul to wait for Samuel's arrival before making an offering, winning the Lord's favor before battle.

Saul was the king of Israel, and he saw that the men in his command had become anxious. Instead of doing as he was told, ceding his authority to God's, he took it upon himself to make the offering and rally the men for battle. Samuel described this as a foolish act. It showed a rebellious streak in the king's heart; a refusal to wait on God's timing. The consequence: God replaced him with David, "a man after God's own heart."

I must continue to wait on God. He has a job lined up for me, this I know. He's made this clear. I would rather be known as a man after God's own heart than one who is known to make a foolish act in a panic. So I wait. There's no reason not to - He's provided me with everything I need in the interim, and then some. Everything, that is, except the patience to wait. No, He's only provided the opportunity to use patience. So I will. I will patiently wait, because I love God and can trust Him. And I'm thankful that God used this scripture today to remind me of the bigger picture and set my focus back on Him. God's so cool!

A Change in Perspective. - 7/13/07

Genesis 18:13-14, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

Is anything too hard for the Lord? Certainly not. Is anything too hard for me? Of course. And through whose point of view do I see the world? Too often, my own. But, through whose point of view should I see the world?

If I look at life and my own situation in comparison to the control I have over it, discouragement could easily follow. I could examine my ongoing job search and my dependent living situation and get frustrated because so much of it is beyond my control. Junior High teaching jobs are strangely hard to find in Washington right now.

But, "Our hope is in the Lord." Like the verse above from Genesis asks, is anything too hard for the Lord? When I look at my life from His point of view, everything is simplified.

• Of course I'll get a job. God told me to leave Belize and move to Western Washington.
• Of course my family will heal, because Mark 11:24 states, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."
• Of course my neice will be taken care of when she moves to Montana. She has trusted her life to God and Luke 12:31 says if we seek His kingdom FIRST, everything else will be added to us ... by His power and authority though, not our own.

Is anything too hard for the Lord? Is anything too hard for the Creator of Heaven, the Maker of the Earth? No. We have only to wait on His perfect timing and trust that He means what He says. He's already proven that.

So now, I continue to wait. I continue to hope. I can relax, enjoy a cup of coffee, and know that I am taken care of. As a Christ follower, hope is something I am blessed with and a source of so much joy. I praise you Jesus for blessing me and guiding me here for a life I know you've prepared for me ahead of time.