MONDAY May 20, 2019

Standing in Defiance

And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
1 Samuel 17:10-11

Imagine King Saul looking down in the valley at Goliath who was defying the armies of Israel.  In reality, the giant was standing in defiance of God. There was not one man in Israel’s army who responded to the giant’s challenge to fight him. Goliath was so confident; he believed he could fight any of the men in Israel. If Goliath won the battle, Israel would have to yield to his ultimatum to serve the Philistines.

The army of Israel failed to respond to Goliath’s challenge. They were dismayed, weak and afraid! Why? They were not looking to God to fight their battle; instead, their eyes were on Goliath––their giant problem–– when, in truth, there was no problem. All they needed to do was look at their past battles. Who won their battles for them? God!

Christians need to understand that one of Satan’s strategies is to stand against us to defy us and challenge us to battle. Why? He wants to win so our lives will be yielded to serve him. Satan hopes to keep us held captive by our sin. Understand, if Satan wins the battle against a believer, they will be outside of the will of God. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s wise counsel in Romans 6:16-18:

…whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

When we go through times of trials and temptations, we must put our trust in the Lord. He is the One to help us fight the battle. When we gain the victory through His power and might, we can look back to see how God won our battles in the past––to help us in future battles.

“For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you,

‘Fear not, I will help you.’ ”
~Isaiah 41:13~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!