What follows is a teaching I have prepared for my church, but it is bursting out of me, I just want to share this with someone. I feel as if there is something here God wants someone to hear. So I have my notes here. I have not changed the wording or linked all the Bible passages as I normally would before posting it on my Salt & Light page. I hope you get something from it.

Let’s begin by reading 1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
 
Various trials… I would say we have seen our share of various trials recently. Yet, at least for me this church, even in its own turmoil has held me together, has been the comfort of God for me. You have wept with me, held your arms around me, and rejoiced with me.
I have not had the happiest couple of months. Losing my mother was extraordinarily difficult. It did not help that when I should have been processing that loss and the pain that accompanied it therefore healing, that it felt like a barrage of calamities hit me one after the other. I know that I was not the only person in this church to experience difficult times. Separately and together, we have had various trials hit us, we have suffered separately and together. I know that the enemy is afraid of Jesus Christ in us, he is afraid of what we can do and who we can be in the Holy Spirit.
There are a number of ways people can deal with tribulations like that.  We could let them defeat us, lay down and say, “you win.” We let the bad circumstances overcome us and become ineffective Christians or wounded self-pitying people. We could, like the world, blame God for the atrocities the enemy is performing all over this broken world.
We could try and fight the enemy, looking for solutions to the problems that pop up. We could run around looking for loans, suing people to get “justice,” or wounding those who have wounded us. But, that is us forgetting the goal, running a race aimlessly or beating the air like a boxer with his eyes closed. That is us fighting the problems, not standing in the faith and promise of God, not remembering our hope, that imperishable inheritance.
Or we could keep our eyes on Jesus, we could remember the goal, seek God, glorify the Lord and bring as many people with us to eternal life as possible. We can hold on to the hope of Christ and rejoice, even in midst of the sorrow. We can believe, truly really believe and so rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. We can listen to the voice of God and do what He tells us to do, even if what He says is, “Rest,” or “Forgive. Vengeance is mine.”
Suffering can result in us turning inward on ourselves and living in the pain the enemy wants us to live in, crippling us in the kingdom. But it can result in greater things, it can result in great glory to God. It can result in us becoming powerful and effective Christians.
In my own suffering, I felt a little like Job. I was not in a self-pity mode, but I reached a point where I was afraid to say, “At least it’s not worse,” because I felt like when I said it, the devil said, “It can be! Let me show you!” But, I stayed in communion with God, even when it wasn’t as passionate as it could have or should have been. He kept reminding me of Genesis 50:20 when Joseph explained to his brothers how and why he forgave them for what they had done to him as a teenager. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
That is the hope we hold onto, that God will bring good out of all the stuff that happens to us. Paul reminds of it in Romans 8:28-29 as well. It is very good that we are made more like Jesus and other good comes out of it. God wants good for us, He wants salvation for everyone. That doesn’t make the tribulations any less tumultuous, but it does help us to trudge on through them, to obey God, and to eventually look back and even rejoice for what came out of it. The faith that God will work good out of evil and will work good for those who love Him can give us the reason to praise Him even when we are hurting and don’t know what else to say. I can say, “thank you Lord that some of my family and friends got to hear that my mother loved you.” I can praise the Lord because I know I will see my mother again in the resurrection and I know she is with Jesus completely at peace and joy, all her doubts vanished, all her pain gone. I can praise God because through the church being forced to find a new place to meet, we have come to know that we are the church, one body who loves each other very much, who loves Jesus very much and who will continue regardless of a home. That we will be a very strong core to a growing body who will glorify the Lord and impact His Kingdom in ways the devil never could have imagined. The evil he meant for us, God meant for good and to bring about that many people will be saved.
Then my sister encouraged me with some verses from Job. Job 5:8-11 reads,
“As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God would I commit my cause,
9 who does great things and unsearchable,
    marvelous things without number:
10 he gives rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
11 he sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
 
Those verses and her prayers ignited me. I knew I needed to seek God even more during this time. I needed to cry out to Him and know He is omnipotent and that He loves perfectly and steadfastly.  I did. I read Psalm 42 because I completely understood what David meant when he described his soul as downcast. It’s so much more than sadness. David said his tears were his food day and night. He said that his soul was in turmoil. That is how I felt. I wanted to stop hurting. I, like David wanted to feel like I had felt in the past at a high point of faith and my walk with Jesus.
What was David’s answer? He said,
“As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
 My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God”
He said his need for God was a desperation, an absolute requirement for his life, the way a deer requires water.
He said, that he remembered the praise when he poured his soul out to God. And He said in verse 8,
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.”
He ends the Psalm in verse 11 with,
“Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.”
 
David turned to God and God covered him in His love and reminded him of the hope and salvation He gave him. I did too. I finally turned fully to God.
We can’t expect to stand firm in Christ if we are not seeking God with the desperation of that panting thirsty deer. We can’t expect to resist the devil if we are inviting him to engage with us by trying to fight him and wrestle with him rather than crying out to God and letting the LORD do great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number as the book of Job reminds us, He does.
My sadness did not magically disappear, but my hope grew and my joy grew. God showed me that a person can be in deep grief, but still have joy. The more I spoke to God, the more I cried out to Him instead of an empty room, the more I looked for the Lord, the more hope and joy I had, regardless of my circumstances.
And then I saw God moving to help me, I saw Him shining His favor on me, improving some of the circumstances that had piled on me.
How does my crying out to God, how does us putting our faith in God rather than ourselves glorify the Lord? People are watching. People are watching our responses and reactions. They see if we dig way down and flex our own muscles or we stand firm in faith and ask the Lord to be our strength, provider, comforter, counselor, and savior. It is not about changing circumstances. Our circumstances can improve but we can remain bereft or we can grow farther away from God as we become what the world sees as strong. Paul was harassed by Satan who had given him something he described as a thorn in his flesh. Paul turned to the LORD and begged Him to take it away. God chose not to change the circumstances, instead He changed His servant.
2 Corinthians 12:7-12 reads,
 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
The Lord’s power, His omnipotent unimaginable strength is made perfect, that is it is shown and expressed in our weakness. God can do it all and it is shown best when displayed through our imperfection, our inability, our frailty. It is His strength, not ours that brings people to Jesus. It is God’s strength that allowed Him to lay His life down on the cross and raise up again to defeat death and sin. He empowers us and gives us strength to rise above our circumstances. Paul wrote to the Philippians and said in chapter 4 verses 12-13
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
When we operate in His strength and not our own, the circumstances do not have to bring us down. But He can and does do great things for us. He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number!
He will give us the church building He showed us. He will do it in a way, none of us imagined. He can do so much more than any of us can think up. He can and will and has provided for us again and again. He heals! He anoints! He brings people to Himself even through the evil campaigns of the enemy.
And what about the good that comes out of the evil that the enemy tries to work against us? Sometimes we don’t know about it. We don’t know how we were protected from some awful thing. Sometimes it takes time to come about. Scholars guess Joseph spent about thirteen years or so in prison for a crime he did not commit. It was two years from the time he interpreted the dreams of the cup bearer and baker to the time he was asked to serve Pharaoh. It was the gifts and wisdom God had given Joseph that saved Egypt and his family.
But there are many times when God let’s us see the good that came from the thwarted attack of the enemy, the weapons that tried to take us down and maybe even looked like they hit the target. I can tell you that I saw how many people I have that love and care about me, my good friends, my church, my family. God sends those people to be His arms hugging and holding you, His comfort as The Holy Spirit operates through His people as we obey the “one anothers” out of love for Jesus and each other. God sent Job’s friends to comfort him during what had to be horrific and unimaginable sorrow. His friends weren’t perfect, they proved that when they spoke out of themselves rather than the Spirit of God. But Job’s faithful response, changed his friends lives and gave them an encounter with the LORD of Lords.
And often, the good that comes from it is the transformation of our character to the image of Christ. Romans 5:3-5 describes it this way,
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
 When we’re suffering, not only does the Lord make us more like Jesus but if we choose to pay attention, we can be very aware of the awesome love He has for us. He pours His love into us through the Holy Spirit. He builds us up and He lets us feel that amazing love He is, fill us up with it and even helps us to love others with better with His agape love.
For me, the peace, the comfort, the love all came when I cried out to God, when I sought Him and asked for His help. The joy came when I praised Him for being awesome and good even when my circumstances were terrible.
We can feel so alone in suffering, in trials, and difficulties, but that is a lie from the enemy. Remember God’s promise, “I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.” We might ignore God, but He will not leave us, and He will not ignore us. He will not remove His hand from our lives unless we want Him to do that.
One of my favorite names for God is, The God who Sees Me. This was what Hagar called him when she was so hurt by how she was treated by Sarai and Abram after she became pregnant. God pursued her into the wilderness, comforted her and gave her the promise of her son, Ishmael, which means God hears.
We can cry out to Him and know He hears us. We know He sees us, and We know He has compassion for us, and we know that God loves us perfectly because He is love.
And we have more than Hagar’s promise of God hears, we have Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us! We are definitely never alone. And if we are part of a Jesus following, Bible believing, Holy Spirit led church, we also know that the people around us can empathize, that the people around us love us because we are called and empowered to love one another as Jesus loved us. That has been proved in us again and again. We have rejoiced together, we have wept together, we have walked and grown together. That kind of love, the love of God and the love He gives us for one another is what gives us joy regardless of the circumstances.
John 15:7-12
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
 
I praise the Lord. I praise Him, not because the world is honkey dory, but because He is God. Because He is God with me, Awesome Mighty God, Lord God of Hosts. The world doesn’t need the lie that life is a rose garden if you’re saved, the world needs the truth that God is always God. They need to know that He prayed for them in the garden of Gethsemane and that He died for them and resurrected for them. They need to know the hope of eternal life. I praise God because He is I Am.
The world sees the way we respond to problems. They can call us stupid or apathetic, tell us religion is a crutch, or offer advice about what they would do in our circumstances. Their response will not affect or change our lives,; But maybe they can take notice and see how good God is and start a journey to Christ and let their life be changed by Jesus, who gives us strength to do all things.
The first and most important thing we can do when we are being attacked, when we are facing various trials is cry out to God and let Him be God! If we abide in Jesus, whatever we ask will be given to us! We cry out to God. We can listen and obey. We can move as He orders and rest as He orders. We can and should put on the full armor of God letting salvation, righteousness, truth, and faith protect us and wielding the very powerful sword of the Sprit, the Word of God. Every piece of the armor is about Jesus. Jesus is our Salvation. He gives us our righteousness. He gives us our Faith. He is the Truth. He is the Word of God. Ephesians 6:11 tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
You have the Spirit of God in you! He adores you that much that He chose to live in you. Live in the Spirit rather than doing what the world says you ought to do in your circumstances. Cry out to God and obey Him, submit to His will. James 4:2-7 says it like this,
You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
You don’t have to do more than merely resist, the word for resist is antistēte, it means to set against and withstand.
The same word is used in 1 Peter 5:9 let’s read 1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Once again we humble ourselves, we put ourselves under His mighty hand, we cast all our cares on Him and we resist.
What does it mean to resist, to withstand to stand firm or stand against? Exodus 14:13-14 describes a bit about resisting the enemy. When the Israelites reached the Red Sea and they looked and saw the Egyptian army closing in on them, they were afraid, but Moses spoke for the Lord and said, “And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
So, today whatever your circumstances, trials, anxieties, or sorrows I encourage you to cry out to God and put on the whole armor of God. Let’s humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand asking Him to fight for us; let’s resist, stand against the devil firm in our faith that God is mighty and He has called us to His eternal glory. He will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us! He is I Am! Jehovah, Lord God Almighty!

​Yesterday we read that one reason David was disqualified from building the Temple of God was because he was a man of war. This would infer that God saw a problem with David as a man of war. But this was not the case. It was just not a trait the LORD wanted associated with His house which would foreshadow Heaven for us. New Jerusalem will be a place where no more death and war occur. Isaiah 2:4 reads,
He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore.
But before New Jerusalem is established there must be war. We are fighting it now. Joel 3:9-10 reads,
Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
    stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
    let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
    and your pruning hooks into spears;
    let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
David was a man after God’s own heart and he was a warrior king. It was necessary for him to lead the army and fight and defeat Israel’s enemies. 2 Samuel 8 records his military might. Verses 1-8 read,
After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
2 And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.
God used David, his warrior king to conquer the surrounding nations, to build Israel’s wealth, to build David’s reputation and spread His glory to the nations. David was as Jesus is a warrior king. God’s name LORD of Hosts means He leads the angel armies.  The angel armies are not meek, weak, or gentle. They are fierce, they are the instruments of God’s wrath, and the bringers of God’s justice. Revelation 19:11-16 describes Jesus as the LORD God of Hosts, the Warrior King.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
 
We will have eternal peace one day, but now we are in a war and we are expected to do our part. Paul describes it in Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
This war is not a normal war where earthly armor would do. Like earthly armor impeded David in order to fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17:38-40) we do not use earthly methods to fight the war. It is spiritual armor, truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. It is fought with prayer and it is fought with speaking and doing God’s word. We are doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22). We aren’t fighting people; we are fighting demonic forces under the lead of Satan. The lost are blindly ignorant prisoners of war to whom we can bring the freedom of Christ. Believer, we have nothing to fear in fighting him. He prowls around, seeks to devour, steal, kill, and destroy (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10) but he is a coward, easily defeated now, and eternally defeated in the future. We don’t glorify the enemy. We don’t battle him with our words or our power. We battle him with the tools described in the armor of God. We don’t even have to battle, we pray, we have faith, we take thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), we remember the truth and throw out the lies of the accuser. We resist him, not fight him. He is a coward and he doesn’t stick around for losing battles. James 4:6-8 describes the best way to deal with that gutless enemy.
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
 
Be humble, submit yourself to God, resist the devil, draw near to God and cleanse your hands of sin. Resist is defined as to “remain strong against the force or effect of: to not be affected or harmed by.” If we engage the enemy, he remains engaged. If we resist, he flees.
Jesus is the Warrior King. He already won the war when He resurrected after laying down His life for us (Revelation 1:18). Soon, Satan will face defeat and eternal torment (Revelation 20:10).
David the warrior king gained great glory for God and built the fame and reputation of Israel as a people to be feared. Some kings, rather than fight David and his army, chose to submit to him before he could combat them. They recognized his enemies were theirs as well and joined him. Verses 9-14 read,
When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
 
When we are wearing God’s armor and fighting as God has told us to do, we too will glorify the LORD and people will join His side. When we signed on, we were given a commission. Our commission does not say fight people, hate those who hate you, or argue with non-believers until they believe. Jesus told us,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20).
Jesus gave us a commandment and told us that by this commandment people would know we were His followers. John 13:34-35 reads,
 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
 
We have our commission and we have our commandment. We cannot carry these out alone. Jesus didn’t. He had had his disciples. David didn’t. He was surrounded by support. Verses 15-18 read,
So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.[1]
 
Jesus was not alone. David was not alone. How can we think we can fight the good fight alone? Being together, gathering together in our King’s name is powerful. I can show you verse after verse in God’s Word which shows He expects us to live and walk as a community. In Matthew 18:18-20 Jesus described just how powerful even a few of us together can be.
 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
 
Believer, do you want to be a person after God’s own heart? Then you must take part in the resistance! You are a warrior. You were made to overcome the bondage of evil. You are victorious. Perhaps you should live that way. Put on the whole armor of God.


[1] David’s son were priests more properly translates to David’s sons were chief officials. They carried out not Godly priestly duties, but ministry and duties to David and officiated as princes and officials in David’s name. See 1 Chronicles 18:17 “… and David's sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.”

Psalm 79

Israel’s History is fraught with times of war, captivity, and destruction. Although The Lord was with them, they were often not with The Lord and He would remove His hand from their military victories, allow their enemies to attack, and sometimes even capture them. He did this to remind them to turn back to Him, to keep His covenant, and to teach them faith. He was always there waiting for them to turn back and speaking through His prophets to His children. We too suffer sometimes. But believer remember who God is and who we are in Him.

That doesn’t mean we ignore the pain or decide that since God allowed it we won’t turn to Him in prayer. We may feel as if He isn’t in the storms we face, but faith reminds us, He is always with us. Verses 1-7 read,

“O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple;
    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
    mocked and derided by those around us.

5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
    Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
    that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that do not call upon your name!
7 For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.”

The enemy’s attacks can hit us very hard. And prayer gives us a chance to hear from God and carry us through. One of the enemy’s favorite ways to attack us is to pay attention and figure out our weaknesses. He exploits those vulnerabilities to make us ineffectual and tempts us to sin to destroy our testimony. Did you know the Bible doesn’t tell us to resist temptation? Resisting temptation doesn’t help us and often leads to the sin we are trying to resist.

Think of it like this, picture yourself as a hungry child who skipped breakfast. There at the Farmer’s Market is a basket full of beautiful shiny red apples for sale. The seller has plenty of apples and looks well fed herself. Your hunger makes your stomach growl and apples are your favorite food. The devil says, “You could easily take one of those apples and no one would ever know. She’s charging a dollar and apple, she won’t miss a dollar! You need it more than she does.” As you keep listening to the devil and wonder if you will faint from hunger, you tell yourself over and over, “I can’t steal that apple. Stealing is wrong.” But those thoughts keep your mind stayed on the apple. The devil’s logic soon invades your thoughts and you no longer say steal, now you think, “I can’t take the apple.” Soon your thoughts become, “I mustn’t take one of this rich woman’s apples” your desire for the apple grows stronger and stronger until you give in and steal the apple.

The Bible doesn’t say resist temptation. Read what it does say in James 4:7-8.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

We do not resist temptation, we resist the devil. In the hungry child scenario, resisting the devil would happen like this, first he would not allow himself to become hungry. He would have eaten the food given to him at home by his father. For us that means reading the Word of God, spending time with God, and letting Him work in us. We do not go out into the world with that weakness ready to be exploited. The devil called the father of lies cannot fight The Truth who lives within us. (John 8:44, John 8:47, John 15:26-27).

What else could that hungry child do in order to resist the devil? Rather than entertain his lies he would recognize the thoughts and stop them. (2 Corinthians10:4-6).  The child would ask his father for an apple. His father would likely buy him and apple which would help both he and the apple seller. His father might show him another way to meet his need. If the father were friends with the apple-seller or another person at the market, the child could go to that friend in his father’s name and explain his need and be surprised by the hospitality and kindness friendship exhibits. When we resist temptation it grows stronger. When we resist the devil, he flees. He doesn’t back away slowly he gets the heck out of Dodge as fast as he can. Resisting the devil is done by submitting to God and drawing near to Him, and obeying Him. If we have a relationship with our Father, we don’t sully His name by pretending to walk in His name but really just listening to the lies of the enemy.

The enemy cannot defile our holiness without our permission. Our thoughts become action, and our actions can make us vulnerable to the enemy. But we are weak and we do sin. We can sin so often that we become deaf to God and then because He loves us He disciplines us. Proverbs 3:11-12 says it this way,

“My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
    or be weary of his reproof,
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
    as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Consider our scenario of the hungry child. Had he stolen an apple, a good father would discipline his child so that he wouldn’t do it again, so that he wouldn’t bring shame to his family, and so he would learn the better way of living and becoming the happy fulfilled man the father wants him to be.

Our Father knows us and loves us deeply. He will never allow the devil to tempt us beyond our ability. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says it this way,

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

There is always a way out, so we won’t sin. God’s Word is filled with the ways others failed and sin. Our memories are filled with how we failed and sinned. But God doesn’t care about how we failed in the past, He cares about how we can succeed now and how we will be victors with Him in eternity. Verses 8-10 read,

“Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
    for your name's sake!
10 Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!”

It is through the discipline and lessons of the past both ours and those recorded in Scriptures we learn, become wise, and more like Christ. Let’s put 1 Corinthians 10:13 in context. 1 Corinthians 10:6-17 reads,

“Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 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.12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

We are not alone. Jesus is with us. He didn’t die and resurrect for nothing. We have the family of Christ with us too. We do not face the struggles and trials alone. We do not go through discipline, tests, and tribulations for no reason. It is all for the glory of Christ. When we are humbled and submitted to The Lord, He is glorified. When we respond with grace and faith, He is glorified. When we are conformed to Jesus’ image, He is glorified. So regardless of our trouble, let’s rejoice and continue to praise, thank, and worship The Lord God Almighty, our Redeemer.

Remember who we were and who we now are. Remember there are others out there still suffering in slavery to the enemy. Verses 11-13 read,

“Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
12 Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
    the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
    will give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.”

We all go through times when we face tests, trials, and troubles that seem more than we can handle. Those times are not fun, but we can keep certain things in mind. First, we cannot handle those problems on our own, God is using them to remind us He is God and we are His children, vessel, and beloved. Second, though it feels as if we are all alone and forsaken, we are not. God is always with us, He holds us tightly and He will never let us out if His hand. (John 10:26-30). Thirdly, we are free in Christ. We cannot be taken by the enemy. The devil cannot touch us. (1 John 5:18-21). We are not ever going to be in his chains again. Whatever chains are shackled to us, we allowed to be put on and we can take them off through Jesus.