The Lord’s Battle

In all of my readings in the books on the Bible, God always assures me that there is no need to be afraid because He is with me in every battle. In Exodus, He told me that He will fight for me and I just have to be still. It’s the same in 2 Chronicles when He told me that the battle is His and again, I just have to be still and take my position.

 

But here comes a certain verse in Numbers that has a different message than the ones I mentioned above. It was my devotional on Tuesday, the 24th of May 2016. It’s on Numbers 31:3 and it says: “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian.”

 

Fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian.

Fight the Lord’s war of revenge.

Fight the Lord’s war.

 

When I read this, I asked the Lord: “What war do you mean, Lord? You want me to fight your battles? Is this something like you fight my battles and I fight for yours?” I actually had funny thoughts. Thoughts like how could I possibly fight the Lord’s battles? How can I fight for his war? Mine is already so intense. How much more His, when He is God. I thought of the Lord’s possible battles: Does He feel empty too? Does He feel drained? Does He feel pain, or exhaustion? Is He being persecuted? Is He having a hard time balancing life and ministry?

 

You see, the things that I mentioned are the personal battles of a typical Christian. But what are the Lord’s personal battles that I have to fight for?

 

That question keeps on boggling me but it was never answered. However, it brought me to a more important realization. The Lord’s battles are never personal. He’s not concerned of being persecuted by His family. He does not experience being pressured by worldly friends nor does He care about lacking provision. No, He does not feel empty nor does He feel drained. His battles are never personal. His battles are always for you and for me. He carries all of them: our struggles, our pain, our problems and many other excruciating things.

 

But the battle that He’s talking about in Numbers, the one battle that He wants us to fight for, is the war of love against His enemy enslaving His children. The battle that He is talking about is in 2 Corinthians 5: the battle to persuade others to come back to Him (2 Cor 5:11) and the battle of reconciling people to him (2 Cor 5:18). He wants us to engage in a battle of bringing His children back to Him. To win them back and bring them to His kingdom. In a battle, that through us He can be able to mend what was broken. The battle to let His children know Jesus and have a relationship with Him. The battle to go and make disciples! The battle to win people and share to them the most important message: the message of the Cross. That through this battle, His people will not just think that the Lord is good but to taste and see that He is good! This is the war that He is talking about and this war is our fearful responsibility to Him (2 Cor 5:11).

 

This is the kind of war of our God. Not something personal, but a battle for His unfailing love to His people. And we are that people He has chosen in Numbers 31:3 – the ones that He has chosen to fight His war. The war that He wants us to fight for is the war for the lost and to bring everyone we can find on the street to His great banquet. Warriors of God, our war is to bring Him glory. It is for our benefit and His love controls us (2 Cor 5:13-14).

 

Our Christianity is not always about what God can do for us. It’s also about what we can do for God. While it is true that our battle is the Lord’s, it is also true that His battle is ours.

 

Warriors of the Lord, let the joy of the Lord be your strength.

 

Of Your Identity in Christ

With some people, it’s so easy to make judgements. Mostly people who doesn’t know you does that. But surprisingly, those who knows you – the people that are close to you – has also the capability to do that.

 

It would surprise you at first, yes. How can someone who’s with you say such judgements? Everything has been said and done. Normally, the initial reaction would be to be angry and to fire shots back at them.

 

But then, in the end you realized, “Does it matter?”

It doesn’t.

 

Know who you are in Christ. If you know who you are in Christ, it won’t matter so much to you what other people think or say. So they say, you are ugly, but  hey God says you are honored and precious in his sight. They say you are unloved, but God says He loves you with an everlasting love. They say you are forever alone but God says, He will always be with you until the very end of the age. They say you are stupid and dumb, but child of God, get up! Yes, you are the child of  God. Your Father is wisdom in itself and you share His DNA so you are not dumb.

 

You are beautiful. You are precious. You are honored. You are smart. You are loved beyond measure. What they say about you doesn’t matter. Only what God thinks of you is what matters.

 

Being told of being a coward hurts. The initial reaction is to insult the person back. But then, in the end you realize, it doesn’t matter. Because in your devotional, God said you are His warrior. You are His conqueror. You will bring fire to His revolution. He said, He has anointed you to be the best warrior in His battle.

 

Filter the things that you hear. Shut out the people who says negative things about you. Most importantly, remember what God said. What He says are the things that matter.

Of Faith and the Bigger Picture

In every suffering, there’s victory. In every pain, there’s a reward. Every tests, every trials, they are part of a bigger picture. A child of God, sets her mind to the bigger picture. Settling for her view today – the view of the pain, the view of the tests, the view of the trials – is settling for less. A child of God does not deserve less. She deserves every great things in this world. She looks at the big picture, because she knows that’s where she’s going.

 

Faith is not being delusional. Faith is setting your mind on the greater things God has prepared for you.