When the Lord Fights Your Battles

There’s truly no battle too big for God to handle. I know sometimes your situation can seem hopeless. This addiction has already ruined so much. Those fears leave you paralyze. That depression has you smothered. The cancer’s got you on the ropes. 

You may have an adversary breathing down your neck. You may have an enemy who makes a life mission of making your life miserable. You may have a seemingly insurmountable army surrounding you on every side, mocking you mercilessly, calling your mamma ugly names, and threatening to destroy you. 

Listen, the battle is real. We’re going to face hardships and struggles in this life. We live in a world where sin has all kinds of consequences. Sometimes we create our own chaos, and sometimes we’re caught as collateral damage for someone’s else screwups. 

My plea and prayer for you today is this: Take your troubles to God and let Him fight the battle for you, because when God fights for us, you know that victory’s coming! 

I could give you multiple examples from the Bible of this truth. One of the better known accounts comes from 2 Samuel 17 where a towering giant named Goliath was huffing and puffing against God’s people and threatening to blow their house down. And while the army of Israel was left shaking in their boots, a young shepherd boy named David knew that no giant was too big for God to handle. 

“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” 

I’m telling you that when you know the battle belongs to the Lord, you can have the strength and courage of David in the face of an imposing giant. When you know that God fights for you, you don’t have to fear the enemy or be afraid of his taunts against you. When you know that God is for you, you can trust Him for the ultimate victory. 

Try to fight the battle in your own strength, and you’ll lose. Trust in the name of the Lord your God, and the victory is sure. 

When Jesus squared off against the enemy of death in the battle of all battles, He fought on our behalf, suffered for our sake, and conquered the grave so that all who believe in Him can share in the glory of eternal victory. No battle is too big for our God!

Jesus - Judge and Savior

One of the reasons we tolerate, accommodate, and even celebrate depravity is that we don’t know what it means to fear the Lord. If we think of Jesus at all, we think of His gentleness, kindness, tenderness, mercy, and love. These are all true characteristics of Jesus, no doubt.

But do we ever stop for even a moment to consider that He is also the holy and righteous and great and mighty Judge of all the earth?

“At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity…I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’ I told the wicked, ‘Don’t raise your fists! Don’t raise your fists in defiance at the heavens or speak with such arrogance” (Psalm 75:2, 4-5).

“For the Lord holds a cup in his hand that is full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours out the wine in judgment, and all the wicked must drink it, draining it to the dregs” (Psalm 75:8). 

We are so full of ourselves. We are consumed with self-righteousness. We parade our pride and flaunt our immorality. We do whatever is right in our own eyes. 

But we have forgotten God. We have disobeyed His commands, disregarded His ways, and dismissed Him altogether. 

Do we not know that He is the righteous and just Judge of the living and the dead? Have we forgotten that God destroyed the wicked of the world through the great flood? Do we remember what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? The army of Pharaoh at the Red Sea? The destruction of the Canaanite nations? The punishments against disobedient Israel? 

God does not take sin lightly. And try as we may to suppress such thoughts, we will be held accountable to God on the Day of judgment. Is that not a sobering truth? Is there any hope of being spared, since we know that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God?

Indeed, there is! While the wicked will be condemned to eternal punishment, the righteous will be saved unto eternal life. 

Who, then, are the righteous and who are the wicked? 

The righteous are those who have been made righteous only by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection life. Truly, no one is righteous by his own deeds. Not even one. But Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, so that whoever believes in Him may not remain in darkness, will not perish, but will be saved. It is by the grace of God we are saved through faith. 

The wicked are those who refuse to come to Jesus for salvation. Since the wages of sin is death, we are all in need of a Savior to rescue us from the just wrath of God. Those who arrogantly, stubbornly, willfully, and foolishly reject the only means of salvation – the cross of Christ – remain under His wrath. 

“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). 

So let us walk in the fear of the Lord! That is, let us believe in Christ, living in reverential awe of His holiness and majesty, His power and His glory, His righteousness and justice, while clinging humbly to His mercy and His grace. And let us learn to dread His displeasure, seeking to gladly obey His Word and not to pridefully reject His truth and thus face His judgment. 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

We All Need Jesus

I don’t know where you’re at in life, but I know that we all need Jesus. Don’t roll your eyes and stop reading. You need to hear this.

Either we’re all here by cosmic chance where life has no ultimate meaning, and when you die it’s game over, no heaven to gain or hell to fear. In that case, you might as well seek to maximize your happiness while you can here on earth. Indulge yourself with sex, drugs, and rock and roll, raise a nice family, bet all your money on a horse, serve at a soup kitchen; it doesn’t matter. Whatever makes you feel good – do it.

Or, there is something of an Intelligent Being or God who exists and gives meaning to life and eternity.

If you do believe there is a God or some kind of Higher Power out there, then you have to come to grips with who He is, or who She is, or what It is or They are. There is no shortage of belief systems to choose from. See if one of the Eastern religions makes sense. Maybe a New Age thing could be your thing. Islam might be worth looking into. Or create your own version of what you think a God ought to be like.

But they can’t all be right. That would be like a math teacher saying, “Hey, you don’t have to get the right answer, just write down something. I’ll give you credit.” But exactly half of 100 is 50. Multiply 3 by 16 and you get 48. The square root of 9 is 3. Every time. All other answers are incorrect.

Is there one true God above all other contenders? One true God who makes the other versions false?

The answer is a resounding yes! Let me give you three reasons why Jesus alone is God Most High.

1 - The very fact of creation gives proof that there is a Creator. Every book must have an author. Every house has a builder. And the universe declares the glory of its Maker. The moon and stars, the skies and seas, the flowers and trees, and everything that lives and moves showcase the handiwork of a masterful Architect.

2 – The Bible tells us that this Author of Life is Jesus. Is the Bible true? The answer to this question makes all the difference in the world. Space fails to give this topic justice, but the evidence from manuscripts, archeology, history, prophecy, theology, and internal consistency clearly point to the reliability and truth of the Bible as the infallible Word of God.

3 – After dying a horrific death on the cross, Jesus rose to life and ascended to heaven. No other religious system even makes such a claim as this. The evidence is irrefutable for the resurrection of Jesus, and every claim of His identity, His purpose, His promises, His salvation is thus verified. Somebody conquered death!?! Does this not change everything?

Indeed, it does! And if you’ll follow the lead and seek to know this Jesus, you will soon discover that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In Him you will find new life, abundant life, and eternal life. In Him you discover the truth that guides you in the right way.

But apart from Him, the void in your heart will go unfilled and the pursuit of all your pleasures will prove but a chasing of the wind. The prospect of eternal separation from God in hell remains, while the hope of better things in heaven evades. We all need Jesus.

Hazardous Journey

“Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success – Ernest Shackleford.”

That’s how the famed British explorer advertised in the London newspapers for his ill-fated Antarctic expedition in 1900. He wanted the men to know right up front about the dangers of such a voyage. Shackleford was amazed at the overwhelming response to his ad.

When Jesus advertised for disciples, He said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). In other words, the cost of following Christ is not buried somewhere in the fine print. He wants us to know that if we are serious about walking with Him, then we’d better be ready to suffer with Him.

Some people are willing to go with Jesus as long as the road is safe. As long as the journey doesn’t get too uncomfortable, too demanding, too difficult, they’re in. But when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the gospel, they fall away. Or when the cares of the world or the deceitfulness or riches entice the heart, their professed allegiance to Jesus gets choked out and they prove unfruitful.

The way of Jesus is a narrow way. He says, “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14). It’s narrow because Jesus Himself is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, no one will see the Kingdom of God, no one will inherit the promise of eternal life in heaven except through Christ (John 14:6). Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

To some that sounds so narrow-minded that it cannot be true. But there’s no other “god” who loves you like Jesus. There’s no other “savior” who has emptied himself, suffered in your place, borne your sin and guilt in his body, hung on a cross to die in your place, or risen in victory from the grave, or promised that He will come again soon to take you to be with Him in heaven forever. Nobody, but Jesus!

He alone is the Savior worth following, no matter the cost.

Let me urge you to come to Him today. Repent from your sin, put your faith in Him alone, and He will save you. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

But know, too, that while the gift comes to you already paid by the blood of Jesus, the journey will be hazardous. The ultimate success of this adventure, however, is guaranteed.