Winning against impossible odds

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. (Eph 6:10)

I attended a YWAM talk by Dean Sherman on spiritual warfare yesterday, and learnt so much. I will probably be blogging more on the subject in the coming days. One thing Dean shared was that the spirit of intimidation or fear is from Satan. God gives us a spirit of love and power, and of a sound mind. Why should we not fear taking on enemies greater than ourselves? Because in any warfare, he said, we are going not in our own strength, but in the strength of His might (Eph 6:10). I was thinking of this and it struck me that one manifestation of this is how when God is with His people, He always gives them victory, even when they are overwhelmingly outnumbered.

Here are some examples:

1. Battle between Israel (Jeroboam) and Judah (Abijah) 2 Ch 13:13-15
"Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. 14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets 15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah." Judah was attacked at both front and rear, and it seemed disastrous! But they cried out to the Lord and it was God who routed the enemy.

2. Battle between Assyria (Sennacharib) and Judah (Hezekiah) 2 Kings 19:35
"And that night, the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies." Amazing! God's people did not even have to lift a finger in this battle, God himself smote the enemy.

3. Battle between Israel (Gideon) and the Midianites, Judges 7
"That same night the LORD said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand." With 300 Israelites versus 135,000 Midianites (Israel outnumbered 450:1), Israel won the victory, because God was on its side!

4. Battle between Israel (Elisha) and the Syrians, 2 Kings 6
"When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" He said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see." So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

5. Battle between Israel (Joshua) and the Amorites, Joshua 10
"The LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. At that time Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

"Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon."
And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

I love this! God killed the Amorites with hailstones, and caused the sun to stand still, until victory was complete!!! Woohooo!!!

In every situation, victory was won because God was on the side of His people. It didn't matter how weak Israel/ Judah was, or how outnumbered they were. In the natural, it was unthinkable how they would win. But they won because they warred in the strength of his might.

Prayer today: Father God, when I am plagued with doubt over whether I can take on the enemy, help me remember that on my own strength, I cannot. But you are strong, and mighty, and when you are with me, surely nothing is impossible. Your word is replete with examples of how when we are weak, then we are strong! Hallelujah, Amen.