2015 - Walking in Victory

We’ve all had those moments; Those times in our life where we feel as though defeat is knocking on our door and calling out to us, “Hey! You’re done for. May as well just give up, let me in and get it over with!” As followers of Christ, walking in this feeling of defeat only holds us back from seeing the power of God in our lives. When I find myself slipping into this mindset of defeat, I have one portion of scripture that I know I can turn to and find encouragement and direction in how to handle this oppression in my mind. The story is of a king named Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat had spent a great deal of energy turning the people of Judah back to the Lord God and urging them to fear the Lord. Now, suddenly, he found himself being targeted by the people of several surrounding nations, specifically Moab and Ammon. In 2 Chronicles 20:3, it says that Jehoshaphat “feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah”.

It says that Jehoshaphat stood and talked to the Lord. He began proclaiming who God was: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” (2 Chronicles 20:6)

After that he began to proclaim the things that God had already done:  “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” (2 Chronicles 20:7)

This next part is powerful. Jehoshaphat shared with the Lord about the current situation that Judah found itself in. He shared how the very nations that God had instructed the Israelites to leave alone when then He took them out of Egypt were now coming against them:  “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)

This is a relationship that we see sporadically between God and the descendants of Abraham in the Old Testament. Real communication was taking place. The people of God spoke, and He listened. God responded, and His people stood on His promise. To put it simply, Jehoshaphat had basically said to God, “I know you are amazing, you’ve done so much for us already, I don’t understand why we are in this situation, but I know that without you we are as good as dead. Help!”  It says that a Levite man, Jahaziel, spoke up and said “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17)

Wouldn’t you know it; they all got up early the next morning and went out to face the armies of Moab and Ammon. They sang and praised God on their way and, as they did this, God caused the different groups of people who had come against Judah to turn on one another and they completely destroyed their own armies. Is that amazing or what? When the people of Judah finally made it to the place of battle, all that remained of the multitude was the dead bodies and all of the valuables that the armies had carried with them. There was so much spoil of war that it took the people of Judah three days to gather it all! It is obvious through this story that as followers of Christ and, therefore, people of God, we need not fear. He hears us and He answers us. The Lord is with us and He fights for us.

When we feel defeated, we need to set our eyes upon the Lord. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we should remember that Christ has already won the victory.   When Jesus cried out “It is finished!” (John 19:30), He meant it. We cannot allow our circumstances to cause us to walk in defeat when we have been given victory. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:56-58). When you find the troubles of this world are bringing you down, “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps” (Proverbs 3:6).

 I really feel that if the church can grab a hold of the victory of Christ and begin to walk in that victory then, just like Judah spent days collecting the valuables that were left by the fallen enemies, so can we find a great work in gathering and returning to Christ that which the enemy has lost a hold of. The valuables of this victory are the souls of men and women returning to God.  In the victory of Christ we have been empowered AND commissioned to go and “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Let us see the value in this call, forsake the treasures of this world and, in victory, store up the treasures of heaven once again. It’s hard to feel defeated when you know that all of heaven is on your side.

Mike

The King of Kings left His throne

To come and save us, make us His own

He's triumphed over the enemy

And from sin's bondage, He's set us free

Now we go forth in victory

Taking back from the enemy

Yes our triumph comes from the cross

The blood of Jesus redeems the lost

The victory is ours

The battle is the Lords

So lift a shout of praise

We are an army, we will not fear

We stand triumphant, our King is here