MONDAY
Today we are beginning the second week of our campaign called “The Lord will Fight for You.” This campaign is titled after Exodus 14:14, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Today, we often find ourselves facing seemingly impossible obstacles, desperately trying to control outcomes through our own strength. Yet throughout Scripture, we discover a transformative truth: God actively fights on behalf of His people. What if the key to victory isn't in our striving, but in learning to step back and let God take the lead?
The driving theme of this campaign is the great challenge of allowing God to fight for us. Allowing isn’t the right word for this, but it’s the best I can come up with. Acquiescing or consenting work, but are a little awkward. God can fight for us whether we allow him to or not. From our perspective, however, it is much better for us to surrender, let go of the rope, and allow God to fight for us.
As we continue to trace this theme, we find Moses in Deuteronomy reiterating that God will fight for Israelites when they invade the Promised Land. After describing the people’s fear and apprehension to go into the Promised Land because of the people who were already there, Moses reminds the people what he told them.
Deuteronomy 1:29–32 29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” 32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God,
Deuteronomy 3:21–22 21 At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”
Deuteronomy 20:1–4 1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
In all of these passages, Moses links God fighting for the people with an imperative for them to not be afraid or fainthearted. These exhortations are in the negative—”do not be afraid or fainthearted.” The positive forms of these exhortations are trust and courage.
If we are to be people who can be still and allow God to fight for us, we must be people of deep trust and great courage.
Additional Content
*when I think of courage I think of inspiring, pregame speeches from coaches that make you want to run through a wall. I’m writing this prior to Sunday, so hopefully I channeled my inner Coach Boone and Coach Yoast and inspired you to, not run through a wall, but be still and wait upon the Lord!
Or Aragorn’s speech at the Black Gate
Reflection
How have you seen the value of trust and courage when facing a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in your life?