This week I'm reading through Joshua, at my pastor's request. (And when your pastor is also your husband, it bodes well for you to read what he suggests . . . wink, wink.) It's a book full of battles and casualties and conquer, all of which I'm aiming to apply to the spiritual battle I face, also known as my life. It really is so good. The Word, I mean. Are you feasting too? I truly hope so.
Because the temptation to give up this battle is so consuming sometimes. And it's in those moments that our Fighter, Hero, Soldier wants to come through for us most.
Corrie ten Boom faced this very concept many times in her life too. I ask once again for the privilege of quoting this brave heroine of mine . . .
One night after a fellow young underground comrade had been captured, and was sure to be tortured for information about the ten Booms and their efforts to help Jews in secret, her family considered what to do.
"That night Father and Betsie and I prayed long after the others had gone to bed. We knew that in spite of daily mounting risks we had no choice but to move forward. This was evil's hour: we could not run away from it. Perhaps only when human effort had done its best and failed, would God's power alone be free to work." (The Hiding Place)
In moving forward, they would be a part of rescuing many people, and saving souls for eternity through it all. But it would get exponentially harder before it got better. Family members tortured and killed, horrors unimaginable. War is so very . . . deadly.
Sometimes I don't think I'm cut out for it. I find myself more often hiding in the trenches and crying than charging forward like Corrie did. I get so terrified and discouraged. And it seems like it would be better to give up on it all. Join the other side . . . or at least quit fighting against them. My effort fails and I think it's the worst.
But I'm wrong. Because that's the exact moment Jesus comes and saves us all. His power alone - free to work.
Wow. I'm still amazed. That He would do that for them!
And while God may not stop time today, He's still doing the impossible to fight for us. He still hears our prayers and cries for help in our most climactic peril, when our enemy is fiercest and we feel weakest. His power becomes free to work and His glory released when all chances of us taking it are removed. The battle is the Lord's. He wins.
So keep fighting . . . and no matter how scared you get, remember - this is evil's hour, and we cannot run away from it. The Lord will do the impossible if He must, but our enemy WILL be defeated. Even if and especially when we feel like we've failed in our own human efforts, because it is at exactly that moment that His power is freed. And He will stop the earth from spinning if He must, but we will be rescued.
"And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and He wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels." -Ephesians 6:10-12 (Msg.)
"But in that coming day
no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice
raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD;
their vindication will come from Me.
I, the LORD, have spoken!" -Isaiah 54:17 (NLT)
And when He speaks, the fiercest of oceans is still, and the only thing that counts is that I am His.
My Rescuer will do what He does best: He'll save me. He'll conquer. He'll triumph.
So hold on, brothers and sisters, and stand firm. Even when you face evil's hour - every battle is the Lord's and we're on the side of the only One who can make time stand still. He makes the hours and turns them. And even evil's hour is under His dominion. He's bringing an end to that very soon . . .
So hold on.
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