He will win your Battles
Judges 7:2-7, 22 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Any one who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty- two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained
But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The Lord said to Gideon, “ With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” . . .
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah. . . (and the battle was won as the Lord said.)
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
2 King 19:14-16, 32, 35,36 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. . . . (After Isaiah also prayed and heard from God) “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a seige ramp against it.’” . . . That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
2 Chronicles 32:20-21 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers.
I wonder how often we think we are in charge of any of the problems we are facing? Whether it be financial, personal, health, we somehow think first, of how WE can handle it, how the doctors are going to give us a treatment, how we are suddenly going to receive a windfall for something unexpected.
I used to worry, wonder, and fret over how I was going to handle this, that, or the other….and although it was my concern, worry, or problem…it was not my fight to fight. It was my duty to turn my issue over to the God, who can handle anything smoothly, easily and according to His plan. Sometimes, that plan involved directing my path to a path or course I had to follow; sometimes those unexpected funds come as a rebate from something, and sometimes, when you are despairing of this impossible relationship, you meet someone new; the RIGHT someone new.
God has a plan for each one of us. We need to turn over our problems and concerns and trust Him with it, and not try to “fix” it using our limited power.
Over the years, I have been amazed at the number and the different ways God has dealt with my issues. And,to paraphrase, thank God! I was a bumbling nut oftentimes when it came to trying to handle some of my messes. But I had to fix whatever was wrong, didn’t I? Afterall, I was in charge, I had to govern my life and that of my son, right? I was the responsible adult. But so often, I was flummoxed and unsure, and STRESSED. It was not just me who would be affected by my mistakes.
And after years, yes years, I began to kind of relinguish things to God. Yes, kind of, because I tried to hold on to just a little; afterall, I was the adult, I was supposed to be in charge. I gave most to Him. . . but found I still clutched a piece just in case… Then suddenly, things ironed out smoothly—with NO iron, and NO ironing board. I was NOT in charge. I had been handling life wrong. I had chosen Him as my Savior, but I did not believe He would daily save me, that He truly cared about the daily decisions and concerns. Yes, I knew He was in charge, but, really, in charge of ME? He cared that much for me and my worries?
So obviously, although I claimed He was my Savior, and I believed and knew I was going to heaven; obviously, I did not fully trust He would be there always. I did not truly trust. That fact hurt my heart—deeply. All sorts of difficulties arose and were front and center with me not believing. IF I believed, I would trust like Gideon—and face a bunch of enemy with only 300 men; I would trust my whole entire kingdom would be saved like Hezekiah when he chose God—and God stepped forth and wiped out the entire Assyrian army who lay dead outside the Judean gates. Hmmm, maybe I should truly put my trust in Him.
Could I let go? Could I release my stress, my fear, my control, my compulsive monitoring of bills, extra payments, and on and on? Could I release all to my unseen Savior? Yes, I knew He made the different birds, made the sky, the sun, the moon, the many different animals—those I knew, and those I learned about from Marlin Perkins and Jacques Cousteau—but letting go meant He was in charge of making sure the mortgage was paid on time—and with what? There was no other monies coming in? I would love to say I jumped in, both feet, up to my waist—and He saved me. But that is not what I did. I clutched edges of my life—just in case.
But to my surprise, pleasure and change in control and opinion, He came through. We did not starve, bills were paid even when my payments became a surprise with huge car repair bills, unexpected medical or vet bills, or…other aspects of life. He came through; He answered the problem and took care of us.
He never failed me. He never failed to show up and take care of my life and needs. Oh, my gracious, what a difference in my life! Suddenly, I had less stress, and truly began to trust—in God, and not in me and my powers—I have no powers. I can read and cipher, add and subtract, and make decisions in different portions of my life—but in the areas I cannot control, God can fix. Why did it take so long for me realize this truth?
I think we have been disappointed through different circumstances with life—parents disappoint, teachers, and others do not always come through planned or expected, and a sense of mistrust develops and grows—persons can disappoint and let us down, and not intend to hurt us, but we all live life to our best ability. And sometimes, we cause unintentional hurt. Things happen, disappointments occur, and God has not promised us all happiness and good happenings. Life is fraught with some disappointment, some learning, and times when we need to seek Him.
He will direct our paths, guide our paths, and fight our battles. It does mean to relinguish our own control, and give—or try to give—Him full control. He is in charge. Each and every day of our lives are already predestined in His book. He wants us to seek His way in our life, learn His control, learn to DEPEND on Him. He is waiting to show us He is dependable and there as our comfort, our security, our God. We tend to forget. For some reason, most of us humans believe we are born with control, and our outcomes depend on us—good or bad. How sad…until we realize He is in control.
And then like the Alka-Seltzer jingle, ‘plop.plop. fizz, fizz, oh what a relief He is!’ It is awesome and reduces stress so much to realize He has a handle on whatever worry we have. And once you totally turn it over, you also realize each step is under His guidance. Perhaps with a windfall (LOL, Haha), but with a quiet whisper, a hint of direction, a sudden idea…..but that’s Him!
I love that I now don’t fret. I know He is in charge, and He loves and cares for me—and what a waste of energy for me to worry when He already has the issue handled. Such a wonderful change of life for me.
Follow my God. He has the answers—to questions you did not even realize you had!
Thank You, my God. You finally got through and helped me realize You have always blessed me and made things clear to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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