A believer’s life is a continuous battle, for the forces of evil stand against him to lead him astray from the Word of God. Most people keep struggling just to avoid drowning rather than overcoming that. Everyone has that inherent intent to succeed and win, but are overwhelmed by circumstances. Most people start working to stay afloat and save defeat rather than reach the other end and win. But, God did not create us to be struggling in this manner but to win and prevail over every situation.
Difference between winning and trying not to lose – Saul was chosen by God and anointed by Prophet Samuel; ‘and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulder upward’ (1 Samuel 10:23). But when the Philistines gathered to battle in Sochoh and Goliath, the giant came out challenging the Israelite to choose one person to fight him, ‘they were dismayed and greatly afraid’. Goliath was more than nine feet tall with a strong build and cried out daily for forty days, saying, ‘choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us’ (1 Samuel 17:8-9). King Saul was the only one who was somewhere near to the giant in size.
The Israelites in this situation were trying to avoid losing and suffering at the hands of the Philistines, while the other side was trying to win at any cost. In this situation, a young man, David, lands up by accident while delivering food items to his brothers. Finding no one ready to face the giant, he volunteered and gave his credentials to king Saul (1 Samuel 17:34-35). As per him, ‘when a lion or bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth’. The natural reaction of most people will be to save what is left rather than trying to retrieve what is lost. Lord Jesus taught us to have the same attitude, through the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine that did not stray but goes looking for the one lost (Luke 15:4).
This is the way of a winner and David was one in every situation, while firmly depending on the help of the LORD God. He went forward to face Goliath with his staff, five smooth stones that he picked up from the brook and his sling, all tools of a shepherd. But he went ‘in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel’ (1 Samuel 17:45-46). He had this confidence that the LORD will deliver the giant into his hands and make him victorious. He went in to win and not avoid losing and could slay the giant with his sling and a stone.
As commanded by the LORD, Moses chose twelve men, ‘everyone a leader among them’, one from each tribe and sent them to spy out the land, which the LORD had promised to give them (Numbers 13:2; 27- 30 & 33). They returned praising the goodness of the land that ‘truly flows with milk and honey’. But then they talked about their comparison with the giants in the land and expressed the Israelites inability to win them. Caleb was confident and urged the people to move forward, ‘for we are well able to overcome it’. But the other ten saw themselves as ‘grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight’. Surely, they did not interact with anyone in the land but lost the battle through perception of their minds.
When Joshua was distributing the land to the Israelites, Caleb reminded him of the promise Moses had made to him earlier. After 45 years, he approached Joshua, the leader of the Israelites and the only other person alive from that generation (Joshua 14:10-12). He raised five points; first, the LORD has kept me alive; second, his age at eighty five years; third, his strength for war was still the same as it was then; fourth, fulfil the promise of Moses and give me the land in the mountains around Jerusalem that was inhabited by the Anakims or the giants and finally, ‘the LORD will be with me and I will be able to drive them out as the LORD said’. Even at that age, he was still confident of his strength in the LORD to be victorious. The younger generation compromised and did not push out all the occupants of the land and Israel suffered for that. Caleb went to win and was able to defeat the enemy despite many odds and that is the result of such an attitude.
Difference in attitude of winners and those trying not to lose – Winning or losing a battle is all in the mind and is the attitude of a person. When we plan to win a battle, we plan and prepare accordingly and go all out and the same message goes down to the others involved in the battle. In the cave of Adullam, David was alone and everyone, ‘who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So, he became captain over them’ (1 Samuel 22:2). The attitude of a winner was in David and his men were also filled with that. 2 Samuel 23:8-12 Out of these men thirty warriors stood out and out of them also, three excelled. First, Josheb- Basshebeth, the Techmonite killed eight hundred men at one time. Second, Eleazar, the son of Dodo, ‘attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword’. The LORD brought about a great victory then. The third, Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite, ‘stationed himself in the middle of the field. Defended it, and killed the Philistines’. The same men who had fled from their villages but were so transformed by being in the presence of someone like David, who went out to win and not avoid losing.
The winners join the battle for a long haul without shortcuts. Lord Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove and God the Father confirmed His Sonship. Immediately after that he went into the wilderness and fasted forty days and forty nights and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:3-10). Finally, after two failed attempts, the devil ‘took Him on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory’. The devil offered the Lord a choice, ‘all these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship Me’. This was restoration of dominion over everything that was given to Adam by God at the time of creation (Genesis 1:28). The Saviour Lord is the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer and He put on humanity to be one with us, our Immanuel. The path to redemption of mankind was through His sufferings all during His ministry, rejection by His own and crucifixion. The devil tried to offer Him a physical kingdom without suffering. His strategy is always to offer a short-cut to glory with a lie and the one who is trying to avoid losing falls for it.
Those who aim to win are focussed on the goal that they want to achieve. David knew he was anointed to be king over Israel, yet he refused to achieve this by removing Saul, despite opportunities and evil plans of Saul to kill David. During those difficult times, he worshipped God earnestly and many wonderful psalms are the result of that. Lord Jesus, before starting His ministry, went into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days to clearly define His plan. All the efforts of the devil at the very beginning of His work failed to deter Him from that.
Second, winners create teams and train them to support and ensure continuity of their work. David had his thirty great warriors, who were willing to lay down their lives to follow his plans – Mark 6:7 Lord Jesus chose the twelve, trained them, even giving them practical training by sending them in twos in His power over unclean spirits
Third, winners maintain their focus on the work in hand despite all odds. During the forty years of wandering in the wilderness all those above twenty years of age died and only Caleb and Joshua were left of that generation. For forty-five years Caleb kept on thinking about the area that he would want his family to settle in. Neither did he forget the promise that Moses, under the guidance of the LORD, had made.
Fourth, winners look towards heaven for help and strength to open closed doors while working diligently. Nehemiah moved to Jerusalem after leaving a prestigious position in the kingdom of King Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls of the city. But the opponents went all out to stop the work, including levelling false allegations against him. When they planned to stop the work with force, Nehemiah and the people also armed themselves. As a result, ‘those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction and with the other held a weapon’ (Nehemiah 4:17-18). The city wall was constructed in 52 days, a remarkable work by so few men, for they prayed and worked in faith.
Those who work to avoid losing, plan accordingly and are already defeated before the work has even begun. Apostle Peter had seen both sides of the battle and has taught to not be afraid of the roar of the devil. We are to ‘resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world’ (1 Peter 5:8-9). There is nothing new in our sufferings and we encourage ourselves in faith. All the weaknesses and triumphs of people are listed in the Scripture to help us understand this and keep moving forward. The one who is not growing will be left behind, for the circumstances are continually changing. To win we must be in close relationship with the Lord through His Word and be filled with His strength daily.
Why is winning so important? There are basically two forces operating in this world; the heavenly power of God and the forces of evil and darkness under the control of the devil. After creating Adam, God gave him dominion rights over every creating being (Genesis 1:28-30). With that, he was also given ‘every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food’. This fact would also be in the knowledge of Eve. But she faltered when the tempter asked one question, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ (Genesis 3:1). To a similar question about our lives about what we have and what we do not, what should be our answer to the devil? After the baptism of Lord Jesus, ‘the heavens were opened to Him’ and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove (Matthew 3:17). The voice of God, the Father, declared, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’. This relationship with the Father, we all have been given through forgiveness of sins and believing in salvation through the sacrifice of the Lord on the cross (John 1:12). The first two attempts by the devil, to tempt the Lord, started with the statement, ‘If You are the Son of God’ (Matthew 4:3 & 6). The Son of God thought it below Him to talk about His relationship with the father with the devil. Our relationship with the Lord, also, in the same manner is built on faith and if we doubt that itself or it is open to discussion then the whole battle scene collapses.
After the stone was removed from the dead Lazarus’ tomb and the great moment had come, our Lord ‘lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me’ (John 11:41-42). With this declaration the win was already declared and calling Lazarus back to life was just a formality. Eve was not sure of the Word of God and accepted the suggestion of the devil to eat and ‘be like God’ and they lost everything, including close fellowship with the LORD God. The death that came on them was separation from and loss of knowledge of God. Lord Jesus defined the opposite of this death, the eternal life, ‘that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ (John 17:3). In addition to forgiveness of sins, a believer gets to know God, where knowing is to get into a close relationship with Him. The result of losing or not winning results in them having their ‘part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death’ (Revelation 21:8). After physical death, this is spiritual death at the time of judgement by Lord Jesus.
On the other hand, the reward to the winner is great. Lord Jesus has promised that the winner will be made a pillar in the temple of God’ and his battles will be over for he will stay there only (Revelation 3:12 & 21). Further to this, the Lord promises to ‘write on him My new name’ and thus reveal to Him the details of His new ministry. Another promise is, ‘to him who overcomes (wins) I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne’. Who would want not to win and be deprived of such great blessings and suffer torture in fire that never goes out and that too for an unending time. With this the blessing is that when we step forward to win, the Lord comes alongside to strengthen and guide us into victory. No doubt, there will be difficulties but they will be of little consequence when compared with the great rewards.
For a believer walking in victory is as easy as trying to avoid losing for in either situation the power of God works in us. It is not that we will never lose a battle in our lives but defeat is not in losing but in not getting up to continue the battle. Apostle Peter walked on water but when fear entered his mind, he drowned. However, at his cry the Saviour Lord immediately pulled him out and saved him. In like manner, when we move forward to face any situation the strength of God works in us through the undeserved grace that we receive. Our role is to change our attitude and move in faith!
