Category Archives: Judges

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If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail

God Is Already There Where He Has Call You To Go

SYNOPSIS: What would you attempt for God if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead you? How energetically would you press forward if you knew he was waiting there for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began? The truth is, when God calls you to step out, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there with your victory in hand.

The Journey// Focus: Judges 4:14-15

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.

What would you attempt for God if you knew the Lord was marching ahead of you? What grand thing would you pursue if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead you, waiting for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began?

When God calls you to a step of faith, you are guaranteed his presence and his power, which means that you are invincible in the journey. Moreover, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there, waiting for you to take the victory lap for a victory that he won for you. How cool is that!

That is exactly what the prophetess Deborah is telling the reluctant general of the Israelite army, Barak. He is shivering in his boots knowing that his army is outmanned and outgunned by the Canaanite army of General Sisera. We are told in Judges 4:3, “Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” 900 iron chariots to Israel’s none…no wonder, on a human level, Barak was not too excited about leading Israel into battle.

But this battle was not going to be fought only on a human level. No battle is. In the spiritual realm, God had already heard the cries of the Israelites and had determined to deliver them from their oppressors under the guidance of Deborah the Judge and Barak the General. In light of that, the fight was over before it even started. Barak couldn’t see that, but Deborah could. That is why she told him, “now get out there and fight, for God is already ahead of you and has guaranteed the victory. C’mon, go take your victory lap.” And that is exactly what Barak did, and a great deliverance for Israel was accomplished.

Perhaps you are a little uncertain about what’s next for you. Maybe you’re not too confident about your future. Maybe the circumstance you face are overwhelming, from a human perspective. You are outnumbered and outgunned. But where God is asking you to step out in faith, those odds do not matter one iota. God is on your side; he is with you, he is actually before you. He is already where he has called you to go, waiting for you to walk into a victory that he has secured for you. You cannot loose. So take heart.

Therefore, because of God’s exemplary record of faithful goodness in leading his people to victory, do not be afraid to trust an unknown tomorrow to a known God. So get ready! This is the day God will give you victory, for the he is marching ahead of you. That is God’s promise to you!

In a verse similar to this, King David said to his son Solomon as he gave him the daunting task of building a temple in Jerusalem to the God of Israel,

Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord God is with you; he will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. (1 Chronicles 28:20, LB)

Whatever is before you, if God is calling you to step out, then do it with confidence; God is already out there where you have been called to go. And he has guaranteed victory if you will go with him!

Going Deeper: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there waiting for you. Now get out there; go take a victory lap in a victory that God has won for you.

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Battle Ready: Why God Doesn’t Remove Enemies of the Soul

A Tempered Faith Requires A Tested Trust

SYNOPSIS: Why doesn’t God completely vaporize your every spiritual enemy? He is testing you and he is teaching you. He allows you to be in strenuous situations to test and temper your faith, and then in those moments, he forces you to learn the art of spiritual warfare. The argument could be made that you wouldn’t really need the testing and teaching if you were sinlessly perfect, but you are not. So God does you a favor by getting you battle ready through testing and teaching.

The Journey// Focus: Judges 3:1-2,4

These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had no previous battle experience)….These enemy nations were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

Do you ever wish God would just annihilate sin in your life? Wouldn’t it be nice it he removed everything that troubles your soul? How wonderful it would be if the Christian’s voyage from salvation to eternity was nothing but smooth sailing!

Yes, that would be nice. But God’s doesn’t’ work that way. He could have given Abraham and Sarah, whom he called the parents of many nations, an heir long before they were in their nineties and well past the years of bearing a son. He didn’t have to leave Joseph languishing in a prison cell for fifteen years training him in how to be a faithful leader in small matters and under great duress when a weekend stay would have sufficed. The Lord didn’t have to teach Moses how to shepherd Israel over a forty year illustrious career by first burying him in ignominy and isolation during a forty year stint as a goat herder on the backside of the Sinai desert. And God didn’t have to take the Israelites on a forty-year meandering journey through that same desert when two years would have gotten them from Egypt to Canaan and more than sufficed to mold them into a nation.

The thing is, God takes his time in preparing his people. He does it apart from our sense of time because God is God. And God knows more than we do. And God can do what he wants. And God knows that it takes us a long time to learn. So he uses the sharpest edged tool, discomfort, to test us and to train us for glorious purposes.

After Joshua died and the Israelites settled into Canaan, there were more than a few enemy nations still left in the land. Moses had commanded that Israel wipe them out because they would ultimately lead God’s people astray by enticing them to tolerate, then accept, then actually worship their gods. Israel had failed to remove these nations, and sure enough, Israel began to intermarry with some of them and live alongside others as if it was no big deal. But it was a big deal indeed, because what Moses predicted was exactly what happened: Israel began to embrace the unspeakable pagan practices of these Canaanite nations. So God punished them.

Punishment came in the form of subjugation—the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites defeated Israel and put onerous demands and taxation upon them. Finally, in desperation, Israel cried out to God, who in turn raised up judges to deliver his people. This is the story of Judges: judge after judge is raised up to lead Israel into repentance, unite and inspire them, then lead them into battle and throw off the oppressive yoke of their masters. This vicious cycle of subjugation, desperation, repentance and deliverance took place over a period of 400 years.

But there was something else going on during this time. God was testing the loyalty of his people by leaving these pagan nations that Israel had failed to remove; he wanted to show them how easy and quickly they would surrender to the enticement of false gods. Which they did! And he not only tested them, but he had to teach them how to battle their way back to holiness and freedom by throwing off the yoke of their oppressors. They had to suffer the consequences of the pain that always came after enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season; they had to relearn the power of holiness; and they had to learn literal fighting skills that it would take to decimate these enemy nations.

Why doesn’t God completely vaporize your every spiritual enemy? Same reasons! He is testing you and he is teaching you. He allows you to be in strenuous situations to test and temper your faith, and then in those moments, he forces you to learn the art of spiritual warfare. The argument could be made that you wouldn’t really need the testing and teaching if you were sinlessly perfect, but you are not. So God does you a favor by testing you and teaching you.

So until you are sinlessly perfect—which means you will have died and are firmly in heaven—then praise God that in the meantime he is getting you battle ready!

Going Deeper: Are you enduring hardship and spiritual harassment? Step back and think about how God might be allowing this as a test to temper your faith. Then look for ways that you can cooperate with God as his gets you prepared for the battle ahead.

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God Has No Grandkids

Each Generation Must Seek God For Itself

SYNOPSIS: The Israelites, under Joshua, knew God, enjoyed his favor, experienced his presence, and walked in obedience before him—but in the book of Judges, their children missed out. What the parents knew and loved didn’t transfer to the kids. For the next generation, “the God of my father” never became “my Lord and my God!” Knowing about God never became knowing God. Here’s the deal: God has no grandchildren. Each generation is responsible to seek God for itself. However, it is the responsibility of the parents to drill that into their children, early and often, leading them to the door of faith. But children have to walk through the door for themselves. At the end of the day, they may reject their parents’ faith, but not because the parents didn’t do their best to inculcate their kids with the knowledge of God. Parents, by all means, lead your children to the door of decision.

The Journey// Focus: Judges 2:10-14,16

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them.…Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.

Prosperity, rebellion, consequence, repentance, restoration….prosperity, rebellion, consequence, repentance, restoration…

That is the sad cycle of Judges. So be warned: you will get a lot of that as you read this book. In many ways, it is a frustrating, if not depressing history, but such is the dark reality of life in rebellion against God. Yet within this collection of stories that take place over the 400 years between Joshua’s death and the arrival of Samuel the prophet, you will also find sun breaks of God’s grace, inspiring stories of heroic men and woman who stepped in to lead Israel to revival, and invaluable life application for those who are serious about obeying their covenant of love with God.

This second chapter is both a preview and an overview of the book of Judges. The verse above captures the problem: when Joshua and his generation died, somehow the baton was dropped with the next generation that grew up, and for whatever reason, “knew neither the Lord nor what he had done.”

Therein lies the problem that has perpetually haunted God’s people. The next generation somehow misses out on knowing God. Interesting, and sad, isn’t it, how that happens! Their parents knew God, enjoyed his favor, experienced his presence, and walked in obedience before him—but their kids missed out. What the parents knew and loved didn’t transfer to the children. For the next generation, “the God of my fathers” never became “my Lord and my God!” Knowing about God never became knowing God.

Why? Who knows for sure, but just as we have seen within our own families, there are different reasons. Perhaps the parents were so busy with God stuff that they didn’t include their kids. Maybe the parents assumed their faith would simply transfer, sort of by osmosis, to their children. It could be that the next generation grew up with a sense of entitlement—believing the presence of God and his favor was owed them. It might be that the kids vicariously experienced spiritual life through their parents’ spirituality. Or it is possible that these children hung out around the holy, and it just became so common that their sense of God became jaded. There are a lot of possibilities, but whatever the reason, the God of their fathers never became their God. Somehow, the baton was dropped.

The deal is, God has no grandchildren. Each generation is responsible to seek God for itself. And it is the responsibility of the parents to drill that into their kids, early and often. The parent is to bring the child to the doorway of faith, but the child has to step through to personal faith. At the end of the day, they may reject their parents’ faith, but not because the parents didn’t do their best to inculcate their kids with the knowledge of God.

If the parents fail to do this, or if the kids refuse to accept this, the outcome is predictable: Prosperity. rebellion, consequence, repentance, restoration….prosperity, rebellion, consequence, repentance, restoration… It is the vicious cycle of rebellion and restoration. It would just be a lot simpler and far better if we would just stay in the restoration zone.

What is the key to avoiding this Judges’ syndrome: Know God and remember what he has done. That is not a passive thing, but an active laying hold of the things of the Lord. It takes consistent, dogged intentionality, but it is well worth the effort.

Going Deeper: Sit you children or grandchildren down and tell them of the goodness of God. Then invite them to know God personally. Help them to accept your God as their own personal Lord and Savior. Do it today! Then check back with them from time to time.

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Bad Neighbors

Spiritually Speaking, Pagan Enemies Make Bad Neighbors

SYNOPSIS: We must remember that when it comes to sin, we are in a battle. It is an all-out war that we can and must win (and with God’s help, we will since he is fighting for us!), but it is a war in which there can be no truce. It is total victory or utter defeat. Sin is your enemy, not your neighbor. Treat it ruthlessly!

The Journey// Focus: Judges 1:21

The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin.

The tribe of Benjamin failed to drive out the Canaanites. So did the tribes of Judah (Judges 1:19), Manasseh (Judges 1:27), Ephraim (Judges 1:29), Zebulun (Judges 1:30) Asher (Judges 1:31), Naphtali (Judges 1:33) and while we are not explicitly told the tribe of Dan failed, apparently they permitted their enemies to stay around the edge of their territory (Judges 1:24-26).

So basically, Israel failed to do what God commanded them to do when failure was not one of the options he gave his people.

And it came back to bite them! You see, pagan enemies always make bad neighbors. When Israel allowed the godless Canaanites to live in their midst, or even close in close proximity, they predictably fell victim to a variety of sinful influences these godless cultures embraced—sexual immorality, idol worship, child sacrifice. Let me say it again, because God said it over and over to his people:

Pagan enemies make bad neighbors!

Obviously, we are not commanded to literally drive non-believers out of our neighborhoods. That would be rather poor form these days, and actually against the law. Instead, we are to witness to them of the grace of our Lord Jesus, model for them the redemptive love of God and win over their hearts and minds to his kingdom. Yet the spiritual application from Judges 1 is quite clear: Just as God commanded Israel to drive the pagan enemies out of the land that he had promised as their homeland, we have been called to deal just as ruthlessly with spiritual enemies in our homeland—our hearts and homes. Failure do so will result in these worldly influences harassing us until the day we die. They will be a constant source of irritation at the very least, and at worst, perhaps even train-wreck our relationship with God. Moreover, when we allow godless influences into our homes, especially through the unfiltered and unchallenged inflow of media, we are exposing the vulnerable minds of our children to these destructive pagan influences.

We must remember that when it comes to sin, we are in a battle. It is an all-out war that we can and must win (and with God’s help, we will, for he is fighting for us!), but it is a war in which there can be no truce. It is total victory or utter defeat.

That is not just because I say so, it is due to the nature of the conflict. The reason Jesus came, died and rose again was to defeat the Enemy:

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work…. Jesus shared in our humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.” (1 John 3:8, Hebrews 2:14)

On the other hand, while Jesus’ purpose was to kill that which will steal, kill and destroy us, the devil is committed to our utter defeat. He is not looking just to gain territory, he is not hoping that we coexist, he will not be satisfied with an established demilitarized zone with us, he wants to destroy us. He hates God, and everything of God, which includes you and me:

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

That is the nature of the conflict. C.S. Lewis rightly described it thus: “There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” And your life is ground zero in this cosmic conflict. So take note, stay alert, be armed, and get ruthless with sin. And be encouraged, because you were made to win:

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

So just remember, spiritually speaking, pagan enemies make bad neighbors.

Going Deeper: Who are the “pagan enemies” who have moved into your “neighborhood,” that is, the worldly influences that you have allowed to hold sway over your mind, to infiltrate your home, to exert influence through your relationships, and/or who have input with the people over whom you are responsible? It is time to call them out, and then kick them out. And why wouldn’t you? God is ready to help you.

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2021: God Is Already There

What Would You Attempt If You Knew You Couldn't Fail?

SYNOPSIS: What would you attempt for God as you look ahead to 2021 if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith will lead? How energetically would you press forward if you knew he was waiting for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began? The truth is, when God calls you to step out, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you. And while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there with your victory in hand.

A New Year Promise // Judges 4:14-15

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.

What would you attempt for God in 2021 if you knew he was marching ahead of you? What grand thing would you pursue if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead, waiting for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began?

When God calls you to a step of faith, you are guaranteed his presence and his power, which means that you are invincible in the journey. Moreover, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there, waiting for you to take the victory lap for a victory that he won for you. How cool is that!

That is exactly what the prophetess Deborah is telling the reluctant general of the Israelite army, Barak. He is shivering in his boots knowing that his army is outmanned and outgunned by the Canaanite army of General Sisera. We are told in Judges 4:3, “Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” 900 iron chariots to Israel’s none…no wonder, on a human level, Barak was not too excited about leading Israel into battle.

But this battle was not going to be fought only on a human level. No battle is. In the spiritual realm, God had already heard the cries of the Israelites and had determined to deliver them from their oppressors under the guidance of Deborah the Judge and Barak the General. In light of that, the fight was over before it even started. Barak couldn’t see that, but Deborah could. That is why she told him, “now get out there and fight, for God is already ahead of you and how guaranteed the victory. C’mon, go take your victory lap.” And that is exactly what Barak did, and a great deliverance for Israel was accomplished.

Perhaps you are a little uncertain about what’s next for you. Maybe you’re not too confident about your future. Maybe the circumstance you face are overwhelming, from a human perspective. You are outnumbered and outgunned. But where God is asking you to step out in faith, those odds do not matter one iota. God is on your side; he is with you, he is actually before you. He is already where he has called you to go, waiting for you to walk into a victory that he has secured for you. You cannot loose. So take heart.

Therefore, because of God’s exemplary record of faithful goodness in leading his people to victory, do not be afraid to trust an unknown tomorrow to a known God. So get ready! This is the day God will give you victory, for he is marching ahead of you. That is God’s promise to you!

In a verse similar to this, King David said to his son Solomon as he gave him the daunting task of building a temple in Jerusalem to the God of Israel,

Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord God is with you; he will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. (1 Chronicles 28:20, LB)

Whatever is before you, if God is calling you to step out, then do it with confidence; God is already out there where you have been called to go. And he has guaranteed victory if you will go with him!

Thrive: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there, waiting for you to arrive. Now get out there and go for it! In fact, as a declaration of faith, go ahead and take a victory lap in anticipation of the victory that God has won for you.

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The Crazy Cycle of Sin

Repentance Is Always Met By A Restoring God

Haven’t you found that sin always leads to suffering, but repentance always leads to God’s restoring grace? Wouldn’t it be so much easier to skip the sin and suffering part and simply live in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle? Francis Schaeffer said, “No price is too high to have a free conscience before God.” He was right, no price is too high. So with God’s help, today, let’s refuse sin and choose obedience to his loving ways.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Judges 2:10-16

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel…They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him…In his anger against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them…. They were in great distress…Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.”

Judges—the seventh book of the Old Testament—stands in stark contrast to the book of Joshua, which tells the story of a courageous leader and a faithful nation conquering their Promised Land through their trust in, dependence on and obedience to God. Sadly, what you see in Judges is what happens when a nation, void of godly leadership, disobeys and strays from the call of God. And it ain’t a pretty picture!

In Judges we find several distinct cycles of sin to salvation and salvation to sin, repeated over and over again from the time of Joshua’s departure to the arrival of the great judge and prophet, Samuel. As you read story after story, you will feel like someone has pushed the repeat button as God’s people keep following this pattern:

  • Disobedience: Israel wanders from obedience and falls into idolatry, corruption and other patterns of waywardness.
  • Discipline: After a period of time where God gives Israel a long leash, he begins to discipline them through the cruel domination and subjugation of other nations. Under the yoke of oppression, Israel finally begins to cry out to God in repentance.
  • Deliverance: God raises up military champions who lead Israel to victory over their enemies. These military leaders then rule or judge Israel during their lifetimes, restoring the nation to pure worship and obedience to God.

Unfortunately, the people of God are slow learners, continually trading in obedience to God and the freedom and prosperity it brings for “that which is right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25) So God punishes his people by letting them fall again into the hands of oppressing nations. And once again, Israel cries out to God in repentance, so he raises up a military champion to deliver them. Yet they fall into sin again, and so on the sad cycle repeats itself. As you read Judges, you get this same song, second verse deal happening all the way through the book.

Theologically, however, this otherwise depressing account show a couple of very important truths:

One, sin always leads to suffering. That message was seen before Judges, and you will run into it again all the way forward to Revelation. We need to remember that sin always has devastating consequences. But on the other hand…

Two, repentance always leads to restoration. Even though we might be faithless and disobedient, God is covenantly faithful—always—lovingly and longingly ready to restore the truly repentant. Every time Israel humbly and authentically repents, God patiently forgives and graciously restores.

I suppose the story of Judges is really the story of your life—and mine. Don’t we, too, fall into that same cycle of disobedience, discipline and deliverance? Haven’t you found, like Israel, that sin always leads to suffering, but in repentance, you always meet a restoring God? And wouldn’t it be so much easier to learn from Israel’s story and break that crazy cycle by wisely skipping the sin and suffering part and simply living in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle?

I think that’s why we have Judges. That’s what God wants us to know.

Thrive: Take an honest look at your life: Are you in the crazy sin-cycle of disobedience-discipline-deliverance? Wouldn’t it be so much easier, and wiser, to simply live in the restoration of a repentant lifestyle?

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If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail

Attempt Great Things For God

What would you attempt for God if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead? How energetically would you press forward if you knew he was waiting there for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began? The truth is, when God calls you to step out, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there with your victory in hand.

Enduring Truth // Focus: Judges 4:14-15

Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Barak attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic.

What would you attempt for God if you knew he was marching ahead of you? What grand thing would you pursue if you knew that he was already where your steps of faith would lead, waiting for you to arrive? What level of confidence would you have knowing that God had gone ahead of you and secured your victory even before the battle began?

When God calls you to a step of faith, you are guaranteed his presence and his power, which means that you are invincible in the journey. Moreover, he has not only promised to be with you, he has promised to actually go before you, and while you may not see around the bend of faith, God is already there, waiting for you to take the victory lap for a victory that he won for you. How cool is that!

That is exactly what the prophetess Deborah is telling the reluctant general of the Israelite army, Barak. He is shivering in his boots knowing that his army is outmanned and outgunned by the Canaanite army of General Sisera. We are told in Judges 4:3, “Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.” 900 iron chariots to Israel’s none…no wonder, on a human level, Barak was not too excited about leading Israel into battle.

But this battle was not going to be fought only on a human level. No battle is. In the spiritual realm, God had already heard the cries of the Israelites and had determined to deliver them from their oppressors under the guidance of Deborah the Judge and Barak the General. In light of that, the fight was over before it even started. Barak couldn’t see that, but Deborah could. That is why she told him, “now get out there and fight, for God is already ahead of you and how guaranteed the victory. C’mon, go take your victory lap.” And that is exactly what Barak did, and a great deliverance for Israel was accomplished.

Perhaps you are a little uncertain about what’s next for you. Maybe you’re not too confident about your future. Maybe the circumstance you face are overwhelming, from a human perspective. You are outnumbered and outgunned. But where God is asking you to step out in faith, those odds do not matter one iota. God is on your side; he is with you, he is actually before you. He is already where he has called you to go, waiting for you to walk into a victory that he has secured for you. You cannot loose. So take heart.

Therefore, because of God’s exemplary record of faithful goodness in leading his people to victory, do not be afraid to trust an unknown tomorrow to a known God. So get ready! This is the day God will give you victory, for the he is marching ahead of you. That is God’s promise to you!

In a verse similar to this, King David said to his son Solomon as he gave him the daunting task of building a temple in Jerusalem to the God of Israel,

Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord God is with you; he will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. (1 Chronicles 28:20, LB)

Whatever is before you, if God is calling you to step out, then do it with confidence; God is already out there where you have been called to go. And he has guaranteed victory if you will go with him!

Thrive: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there waiting for you. Now get out there; go take a victory lap in a victory that God has won for you.