I just love when God uses His Word to speak to my heart. I love when He takes my current circumstances and begins to weave stories from the bible through them so that they are relevant to what I'm going through today. Really, I'm just so grateful that He speaks to us.
I've been reading in Deuteronomy lately. Today I was reading in chapter 7 and He just began to show me some truths through what He was speaking to the Israelites as they were just on the verge of entering the Promised Land. He had shown them places they would go in and occupy. He was instructing them to completely destroy all the nations that He handed over to them. He wasn't telling them that it was going to be an easy, no-work-required task of inheriting the promise, but rather He was preparing them that they would have to fight for it. Yet even though they would have to fight, He assured them that He would be with them, He would go before them, He would deliver them from their enemies that stood in their way.
He promised them, He assured them of victory when they were obedient to what He said, and what He LED them to do.
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them." v.1-2
“You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you." v.16
So we see that He has already promised them victory because He will hand the nations over to the Israelites. All they must do at this point is be obedient. They must go in and conquer and completely destroy them.
Why wouldn't He just GIVE them the Promised Land instead of having them go up against the nations that were occupying it? What was the point of the battles? I believe it was to continue showing them again and again His faithfulness. With each victory and each enemy destroyed, they would be able see once again that God was true to His Word. And each victory could have the potential to be yet another stone in the wall of their faith. Stepping stones, building blocks, you name it. Each battle provided an opportunity for God to give them a victory, and each victory showed the power and faithfulness of God.
He even used the previous battles to help strengthen their faith as they prepared for the new battles before them...
"Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. And then the Lord your God will send terror to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!
“No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all." v. 17-24
And this is where I have been camped out at today.
He was reminding them of all He had done for them up to this point. They had seen His power at work. They had seen miraculous signs and wonders in their deliverance out of Egypt and in their crossing the Red Sea. They had seen the mighty arm of God at work with their eyes. Now He was telling them to remember it. And He tells us the same thing.
When we are faced with new enemies, new challenges, and new trials, we must go back to those places where we have seen Him at work in our lives before. If He was faithful yesterday, He is still faithful today. If He had the power to heal you yesterday, He still has the power to heal you today. He is the same yesterday, today and forever! (Hebrews 13:8) He doesn't change. His power doesn't diminish over time. He was, He is, and He will be.
We MUST remember what He's done for us. We must remember how He has provided for our needs, how He has carried us through difficult times, how He has answered our prayers, how He has came through every single time. That's why it's so important to build altars in our lives every time we see the hand of God move. Every time He reveals Himself to us and we see Him, we build an altar. We mark those times in our lives when He shows us another part of Him, whether it's His strength, His healing, His power, His comfort, His provision, His mercy, His forgiveness, His love...you get the picture. Etch them into your heart, build your altar at those places so you can always go back to them and remember that you saw the heart and the hand of your God.
I love how He says, He will use the same power that He used when He brought you out of Egypt. He will use that same power against the people you fear. What more do we need to know? He is still able to deliver you from bondage, He is still able to part the Red Sea, He is still able to provide manna in the wilderness times, He is still able to drive out your enemies. HE IS ABLE!
So here's where I'm at today...what is it that I'm facing right now that I need to go back and revisit His faithfulness so that my heart can be strengthened and encouraged and my faith can be made stronger? I have seen Him move in my life in the past, so what do I need to remember about Him when I'm facing the new enemies today?
And I encourage you to ask yourself the same questions. And above all, ask our Father to reveal and bring you back to those times when He has delivered and sustained you in all things that you needed. Ask Him to bring back to your mind all the times when He has shown Himself strong in your life. Then, declare His faithfulness, declare His goodness, declare that He is able to meet whatever challenge or enemy you are facing today. The best place you can start is in His Word. He will reveal Himself through the pages of His Word to show you He is the Great I AM in all things for your life.
Above all, don't look at new battles as hinderances. Look at the battles before you as just another place you will be able to stand and see the hand of your God move on your behalf. Trust in His Word, lean on His promises, and REMEMBER all He has done.
