By Isaac Stonier
If you went into battle, and you had the choice on taking one person with you (historical or present day), who would it be?
Would you choose a fighter like Muhammed Ali, or Anthony Joshua? Or a strategic thinker, like Jurgen Klopp or Bill Shankly? Or someone that could keep the morale of the group up, like Victoria Wood or Bill Bailey?
I think I would have to choose someone who knew me quite well, so we would be able to anticipate what each other were thinking.
Would you go full throttle and attack, or defend and hope the enemy tires themselves out?
I don’t think anyone would choose to go into battle, then at the start, kneel down. Even more so, you wouldn’t then raise your hands up into the air, as this might show the enemy that you are giving up and that they can defeat you quite easily! I’ve never seen a boxer start a fight this way.
Should we start a battle this way then? Honestly, it wouldn’t be my first port of call. I think maybe checking that any armour or protection I had was in full working order would be my first action.
But I’m not talking about going into an actual battle. We all have personal and spiritual battles of our own. Whether it is in our lives or at work. Do we confront our battles head on or fall to our knees and give up?
When I talk about kneeling down, I’m not on about giving up. I actually mean, at the beginning of a battle, kneeling in prayer and raising your hands in praise to God.
One of my favourite songs at the moment is Battle Belongs by Phil Wickham. The lyrics for the chorus are:
“So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
Oh God, the battle belongs to You
And every fear I lay at Your feet
I'll sing through the night
Oh God, the battle belongs to You”
Our battles should belong to Jesus. In giving our lives to him, we have handed our problems over to the creator of all things, who knows us, loves us and wants the best for us! The all-powerful God is on our side, fighting the battles with us, and guiding us in the way we should go. After all, Romans 8:31 says: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”.
In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat prays to the Lord when an army is about to attack. The Spirit of the Lord said to them: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s…Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”
Later in the chapter, the King and his army go to confront the enemy, but when they arrive, God has already defeated them. Just think, a huge army defeated, just by the power of prayer.
If we pray to and praise the Lord in the darkness, in our times of trouble or worry, then we will not be alone. God is always there for us, walking along side us. He will put things in place to help us in our time of need.
Have a listen to the lyrics of ‘Battle Belongs’, be encouraged and remember you are not alone. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want the Almighty God on their side?
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