For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.
If you read a little more than today’s verse from Deuteronomy you’ll see that Israel was engaged in battle with the Egyptian army. The Egyptians had greater numbers, they were better trained and had better equipment than Israel. But, there was one significant difference between the 2 sides – Israel put themselves in the hands of the Almighty God and sought His power for the battle. They saw their battles as God’s battles, they treated them as holy events where the last word before the fighting started came from the Priest not the General. When they marched out to war God didn’t go with them, they went with God.
There have been lots of times in my life when I’ve found myself facing trials, or battles if you prefer that word. I have struggled my way through many of them on my own. Some I’ve won, some I’ve lost and most times I’ve just accepted that’s the way life is. But when I read this verse I realise that it shouldn’t be that way. I should be doing as the Israelites did. I should be holding my troubles before God in prayer and seeking His leadership in the battle. I should be looking to see where He is in the mix and aiming to follow His lead. In the times when I’ve remembered to do that I’ve seen Him do incredible things. I’ve seen difficult and obstructive decisions overturned. I’ve seen hearts and minds changed and I’ve seen victories in places where I expected there to be loss. Bringing the troubles of the day before God is a discipline I’m still learning to master but it’s a struggle worth wrestling with.
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Application:
Pause for a moment now and consider your life as it is today. Think about the places where things are difficult and put them before God in prayer. Ask Him to go before you, ask Him to be your guide and your strength and see what he does. You can do this for those around you if your life is free from trouble at the moment so pray for others too!
Prayer:
Lord God, I thank you that you know all things. I thank you that you see everything before it has even happened. I ask that You would go before me in _____ situation. Be my strength and my shield, be my power and my might, be my guide and my rescuer I ask In Jesus’ name. Amen.