Shortly after leaving Egypt, the Israelites found Pharaoh and his army of chariots and horses chasing them to take them back, mountains on two sides and the Red Sea in the front. In such a situation their getting into a state of panic was natural. But Moses assured them to be still and see God fighting their battle to give them victory. God has assured us never to leave nor forsake us and He not only fills us with His power and might to face any situation but also moves ahead to be our protective shield before us. God in His love uses multiple ways to reach out and help those who seek Him in their troubles.
Why and how does God fight our spiritual battles? King David had the same question in his mind to exclaim, ‘What is man that You (LORD) are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?’ (Psalm 8:4 & 6). It defies logic that God loves His creation so much, to sacrifice His Son for their redemption. David clarifies this in a subtle way, ‘You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet’. As per Scripture, God first created heavens and placed angels there with three identifiable Archangels, Lucifer, as worship leader; Gabriel to receive and declare the Word of God to others and Michael as prayer warrior or leader.
As worship leader, Lucifer was blessed, for, ‘The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created’ (Ezekiel 28:13). After he rebelled by seeking his own worship from others, Satan was thrown out of heaven. God created man with all three blessings in him; he could sing or enjoy worship in his soul; receive, meditate upon and live as per the Word of God and communicate with God through prayer and supplications.
After their sin of disobedience, Adam and Eve covered themselves with leaves and hid from the presence of God, thus creating a veil between them and God (Genesis 3:7-8). God does not hide Himself from mankind and continues to visit and listen to their cry for help. God even listened to Cain, after he had murdered his brother Abel, and when he cried out, ‘my punishment is greater than I can bear’ (Genesis 4:13-15). To protect him, ‘the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him’. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, took Sarai, Abram’s wife and the LORD God struck ‘Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai’ (Genesis 12:15-17). She was returned to Abram without any harm. God spoke to Moses from within the Burning Bush, ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows’ (Exodus 3:7). Like the Israelites, God considers all of mankind as ‘My people’ and cares for their troubles. God expressed His great love for mankind by sending His ‘only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16-17). The coming of Lord Jesus was not ‘to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved’.
From the moment mankind rebelled and turned away from God, He kept visiting them in various ways and through His Word, conveyed through the Prophets. God has always maintained that the one who will seek Him with all his heart and not in some half-hearted manner, will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13 -14). Those who turn to God in this manner shall then be set free from their captivity to the earthly as well as spiritual forces of darkness.
Apostle John had experienced first-hand the love of His Savior and he could say, ‘God is love’ 1 John 4:8). Since love defines one aspect of God, all humanity can expect and is loved by God. The Savior Lord has taught, God does not discriminate and makes ‘His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust’ (Matthew 5:45). But that does not mean that He accepts all, in whatever state they are in, and distributes His gifts equally. There are general gifts from God that are for everybody and other specific blessings only for His chosen ones.
The Psalmist expressed the second aspect of God, ‘Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face’ (Psalm 89:14). His mercy is also clothed with truth and His justice, though not always seen, is perfect and sure. David moved forward under the anointing of God to be the future king of Israel and as a young boy killed Goliath, the giant, of whom the whole Israelite army was afraid. But from then on, because of those who were jealous of his success, great opposition to him surfaced. There must have been moments, that we all face at times, that like Job, he would have felt the weight of his sufferings. The man whom God had termed as ‘blameless and upright, cried out to God, ‘How long? Will You not look away from me, and let me alone’ (Job 7:19).
On the other hand, David in all his sufferings could sing to God, ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over’ (Psalm 23:5). He faced his enemies after seeking God before every battle and succeeded, for God was with him, always. David is called ‘man of God’s heart’ for he lived his life in obedience to His Word. Only the one who submits to Lord Jesus is blessed to be a child of God and can reach out and pray to Him as a child, to a Father seeking His hand. Invariably we look at our opposition in the face of the individual, while the hidden force operating in him is spiritual and demonic. A God who is love and who is just, can never abandon His children, who look up to Him for help in the battles that they face in life.
In our battles, what type of help can we expect from God? The Amalekites attacked David’s camp in Ziklag and looted everything, taking their wives, children and herds captive with them. In their grief, the same men who were willing to lay down their lives for him, ‘spoke of stoning him’ (1 Samuel 30:6-9). In this state David, though was greatly distressed, yet, he ‘strengthened himself in the LORD his God’. He received assurance of sure success in going after the Amalekites. God answers us, first, by strengthening us in the soul to pull us out of the pit of sorrow and weakness. Second, He provides us a plan of attack by guiding us through the Holy Spirit. Joshua was given the plan for conquering Jericho, the first and the most fortified city in Canaan; the Israelites were to capture (Joshua 6:2-5). Third, God releases supernatural help from heaven to help His children. David was finally accepted and anointed as king by the Ten Tribes of Israel, who had not done so for seven years and six months, while he patiently reigned over Judah and Benjamin. The Philistines deployed themselves against the Israelites in the Valley of Rephaim to challenge his kingship. David enquired of the LORD God and was assured, ‘when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For, then, the LORD will go out before you, to strike the camp of the Philistines’ (2 Samuel 5:22-24). The Heavenly Army or the angels move as commanded by the Lord to help us defeat our enemies, both spiritual and physical.
Four, God releases material resources from heaven, by using earthly elements, to help us overcome our lack. Apostle Peter was commanded by the Lord to ‘go to the sea (of Galilee), cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money’ (Matthew 17:27). Five, God provides us with His armor, ‘that you may be able to withstand in the evil day’ (Ephesians 6:13-18). The armor has the ‘belt of truth’, on which all other weapons are attached by a soldier. The ‘breastplate of righteousness’ of Lord Jesus which protects the heart and soul, from evil desires in the heart and evil longings of the soul. The shoes are the ‘Gospel of peace’ to walk in God’s ways and a ‘shield of faith’, that the Lord is with me to protect, guide and strengthen. The ‘helmet of salvation’ protects the ears from evil lies of the devil and to hear the Word of God; protects the mind from evil thoughts, the eyes from evil distractions that lead astray, the nose from all infectious germs and viruses and the mouth from speaking what is not from God. Solomon has rightly said, ‘death and life are in the power of the tongue’ and our words are taken by the devil as authority to act against us. The weapon of attack is the ‘sword of the Spirit’, which is the Word of God’. Lord Jesus, while being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, countered his lies by the Word of God from the Book of Deuteronomy to force him to withdraw. When we speak the Word of God over a situation, we are seeking release of heavenly power of the Word to overcome and defeat the evil
Six, to ensure full and proper effect of these weapons, we pray in the Spirit, for the power of the Holy Spirit joins the Word to bring great changes. With our limited knowledge, we do not know what to pray and God uses His Spirit, ‘to make intercession for the saints (believers) according to the will of God’ (Romans 8:26-27). Seven, God places desires according to His will for us to act on that according to His good purpose for us (Philippians 2:13). With this He equips us to move in faith ‘to do for His good pleasure’.
After having done all this our loving Father in Heaven calls out, ‘fear not for I AM with you; be not dismayed, for I AM your God, I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’, the hand of power (Isaiah 41:10). Using His weapons of war, we move as per Lord Jesus’ command to ‘say to this mountain (of our oppression), ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says’. God is always ready to help but are we also reaching out to Him in faith and then move forward to ‘resist the devil’ and make him flee from us?
Why do we not experience God’s hand with us in any battle? Before the rain of blessing falls, the land must first be prepared and ready to receive that, failing which it will flow off like water from a rocky mountain top with little or no benefit. How do we prepare ourselves for this? Lord Jesus called Himself as the Vine and believers as the branches that cannot bear any fruit without abiding in Him (John 15:4). At the grafting of a branch, the gardener seals the open end of the branch to stop any effect of humidity etc. on the branch to make it fully dependent on the vine only. A believer must also do likewise to enable Him to stand up for you.
Lord Jesus answered the Jewish Scribe, who asked about the ‘first commandment of all’, quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy, the same Book that He used to counter the devil in the wilderness. After declaring the Oneness of God He talked about loving Him ‘with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength’ (Mark 12:29-31). This loving is not a partial effort but absolute fullness for which one must turn to the Lord completely, by leaving aside dependence on any other source for relief. We find many people wearing various charms and amulets or rings with specific stones to ward off the effect of the stars.This is keeping one’s feet in two boats with the hope of either effort succeeding.
I receive messages for prayer through e-mail that are tagged to various ministries preaching through the TV medium. It is like throwing many hooks in the stream with the hope that a fish will be caught somehow. Apostle James, the Head of the first Church in Jerusalem, mentioned such people as waves of the sea that are directly affected by the wind. He then warns, ‘Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways’ (James 1:6-8). David was a fugitive for many years, for King Saul, filled with jealousy, was hunting for him to kill him. In faith, he could declare that the LORD God will light his ways and lighten up his darkness, both within and around him (Psalm 18:28-29). While facing extreme loneliness in Adullam cave also he could bank on God to help and those from all over Israel, those who were in distress, debt or discontented came to him (1 Samuel 22:2). He as a leader changed them into mighty warriors, who always took a stand against the enemy and single-handedly kill hundreds. With such mighty men sent by God to be with him, David could confidently declare, Lord ‘by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall’. God fights for us by sending those who are willing and ready to help us overcome.
David could declare, for all to know, that God ‘sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters’ (Psalm 18:16). Are we ready to catch hold of the hand God has sent to rescue? Invariably, in our prayers we speak little about the problem but more about the way that we want God to take to help us. God is Sovereign and not under anyone’s control and His help comes in His ways and in His time. Once we submit our problem to Him, we must wait for the answer, with a sense of gratitude. Even ‘no answer’ is also an answer from God for if we look back in our life, if God had answered all our prayers, how difficult our life would have been.
Before we seek God’s help in a situation, I need to seek help from the Holy Spirit to understand the real reason of my falling in that. Then repent, seek forgiveness and prepare to change under His mighty hand and receive the asked blessing. Without this, we are likely to keep falling into the same trap again and again. God has given a sure promise, ‘Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me’ (Psalm 50:15). In this, first, is the calling in faith; second, preparing to receive and finally thanksgiving and witnessing to others about the love of God and lead others to Him.To such, God will always reach out to help and rescue.
Because of our sinful nature, God desires for us to repent and turn to Him in every way. He does not want to nor leaves us alone in such a situation. The teaching of our Lord is to forgive a person for the same mistake, when he repents, seventy times seven in a day. He deals with us also in a like manner. We can thus, fully depend on Him to reach out and help us with His right hand of power and help us to come out of the storms.
