Ignored you? Forsaken you?
Where is God when I need Him? you ask.
Does it seem like in the toughest moments of your life He is absent,
hiding somewhere?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, the
following encouragement for today may help.
Now, in order to see God at work we have to go to His Word. The reason God gave us a written Bible is so we can see examples of people's lives, what they did right, how they failed, etc. and then apply this information to our lives.
1 Corinthians 10:1 ESV
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
So, lets take a look at the book of 1 Kings chapter 20, which gives us the account of king Ahab (NOT A GODLY KING, but God was faithful to His people still), who received word from a prophet of God that he should go out and attack the Arameans, who were about to wage war against Israel, before they came against the Israelites.
19So these went out from the city, the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and the army which followed them. 20They killed each his man; and the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, and Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen.21The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans with a great slaughter.
22Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel and said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself and observe and see what you have to do; for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.”
23Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they. 24“Do this thing: remove the kings, each from his place, and put captains in their place, 25and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.” And he listened to their voice and did so.
The Arameans thought that God was only effective in the high places, on the mountains. They thought He was a God of the mountains, and as long as His people were fighting from the mountain tops He would deliver them, but God couldn't possibly help His people if they were in the valleys, in the plains, they thought. So they came up with a plan to fight in the plains the next time around.
What they didn't realize is that Jehovah God is the Creator of heaven and earth. All is His, and there isn't a place on earth where His power and His presence cannot reach.
Another Aramean War
26At the turn of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27The sons of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went to meet them; and the sons of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the country. 28Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The LORD is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”
Now, before we go any further, I'd like to make a statement; the only difference between the two sides, the Israelites and the Arameans, was what God each of them served. The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons,
Acts 10:34 King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons
29So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. 30But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber.
Where was God when the Arameans came against the Israelites?
Fighting for them, that's where He was, in the battle field!
Could the Israelites have thought:
"God doesn't protect us from our enemies' attacks, therefore He is NOT helping us"?
or : "He must be absent from my life because I'm getting attacked and He is not doing anything about it"
How about: "If there was a God, all this wouldn't be happening!"
No, the Israelites could see very clearly that in the midst of trouble, their God was at work. His hand was protecting them and helping them fight their enemy and win!
God doesn't, in general, prevent our problems. He doesn't take our enemy out of the way so we don't get bothered by him.
What God does is He gives us the strength to fight back, and by the blood of Jesus we have the power to win the battle just like the Israelites did.
The Israelites didn't just win the battle, they chased their enemy even into his hiding place and completely destroyed him. Through Jesus we can do the same. Our true enemy is not of this world, he does not have flesh and blood like we do,
Verse 27 of our text says that the Israelites were like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the country. Our enemy also seems much larger than we could ever hope to be, but don't despair, you are not alone. Your enemy may look huge, but the One who is on your side, fighting with you, is MUCH bigger than the one who is against you.
Are you ready for a different outcome?
Give your heart to Jesus
Follow Him
Obey Him
Pray
Place your faith on Him
Be patient, God will come through because He LOVES YOU!
Now, before we go any further, I'd like to make a statement; the only difference between the two sides, the Israelites and the Arameans, was what God each of them served. The Bible tells us that God is no respecter of persons,
Acts 10:34 King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons
Romans 2:11 New International Version (NIV)
For God does not show favoritism.
So God favored the Israelites because they followed and obeyed Him. God chose Israel as a nation that would come out of Abraham because He saw Abraham's heart, and knew that Abraham would obey and follow Him. But throughout scripture we see other people who chose to follow and obey God, such as Rahab, Ruth, some Egyptians who chose to follow the Israelites to the Promise Land, plus the many gentiles who came to know Jesus as their Savior in the New Testament and afterwards, etc., etc.
God opens His arms to ANYONE who chooses Him, and to His people, He will give favor.
Now, having said that, back to our scripture,
So God favored the Israelites because they followed and obeyed Him. God chose Israel as a nation that would come out of Abraham because He saw Abraham's heart, and knew that Abraham would obey and follow Him. But throughout scripture we see other people who chose to follow and obey God, such as Rahab, Ruth, some Egyptians who chose to follow the Israelites to the Promise Land, plus the many gentiles who came to know Jesus as their Savior in the New Testament and afterwards, etc., etc.
God opens His arms to ANYONE who chooses Him, and to His people, He will give favor.
Now, having said that, back to our scripture,
29So they camped one over against the other seven days. And on the seventh day the battle was joined, and the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. 30But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left. And Ben-hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber.
Where was God when the Arameans came against the Israelites?
Fighting for them, that's where He was, in the battle field!
Could the Israelites have thought:
"God doesn't protect us from our enemies' attacks, therefore He is NOT helping us"?
or : "He must be absent from my life because I'm getting attacked and He is not doing anything about it"
How about: "If there was a God, all this wouldn't be happening!"
No, the Israelites could see very clearly that in the midst of trouble, their God was at work. His hand was protecting them and helping them fight their enemy and win!
God doesn't, in general, prevent our problems. He doesn't take our enemy out of the way so we don't get bothered by him.
What God does is He gives us the strength to fight back, and by the blood of Jesus we have the power to win the battle just like the Israelites did.
The Israelites didn't just win the battle, they chased their enemy even into his hiding place and completely destroyed him. Through Jesus we can do the same. Our true enemy is not of this world, he does not have flesh and blood like we do,
Ephesians 6:12 King James Version (KJV)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Our real battle is against the devil and his demons, so ours is a battle we can only win through the power of the blood of Jesus, and His atoning sacrifice for us at the cross of Calvary.
Where is God when you are going through a trial?
He is right by your side, comforting you, giving you strength to fight back, helping you overcome the attacks of your enemy.
God isn't only God when all is well. When life smiles at us. When we are safe. When we have plenty. When we are healthy. When we are on top of the mountain.
The God of the mountain is still God in the valley. The same God who helps us get on top of the mountain can help us get out of the valley and up again, if we'll just trust Him, if we'll just follow Him no matter what, if we'll just praise Him in the middle of life's storms.
Verse 27 of our text says that the Israelites were like two little flocks of goats, while the Arameans filled the country. Our enemy also seems much larger than we could ever hope to be, but don't despair, you are not alone. Your enemy may look huge, but the One who is on your side, fighting with you, is MUCH bigger than the one who is against you.
Romans 8:31 New International Version (NIV)
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
That has got to be the best news ever!
God is for us!
He hasn't forgotten or forsaken us, He is always by our side waiting for us to follow and obey Him so he can act on our behalf. If the Israelites had not obeyed to God the outcome would have been very different.
Are you ready for a different outcome?
Give your heart to Jesus
Follow Him
Obey Him
Pray
Place your faith on Him
Be patient, God will come through because He LOVES YOU!
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