In His Hands

In His Hands

The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Exodus 14:14

YOU HAVE CERTAINLY FOUGHT BATTLES, and you will likely fight them again. You may even be in the middle of one now. If so, you know how easy it is to feel isolated, abandoned, overwhelmed, and hopeless. Yet hopeless is not part of our inheritance. Neither are those feelings of isolation and abandonment. Yes, you may be overwhelmed with things too enormous for you to carry, but you don’t have to carry them. God is infinitely larger than anything you are facing. Your battles are in his hands.

That theme comes up again and again in Scripture, and it is presented as a promise for those who have come to God in faith. We see it in many of Israel’s battles, in the lives of its judges and kings, in the ministries of its prophets, and in the work of apostles and believers everywhere. Sometimes God requires his people to take a strategic position or a few steps forward. Other times he requires a choir of worshipers or a period of waiting. But it always involves faith. We don’t see his presence in our battles and enjoy great victories by crossing our fingers and hoping he shows up. We see him and enjoy his victories by asking him to intervene and believing that he will. Then we ride out the chaos with peace and calm inside.

That isn’t easy to do. The idea of God fighting our battles may sound easy, but it takes a lot of fortitude to trust that he is at work even when we don’t see evidence of him. The Israelites at the Red Sea had not yet learned that lesson, and many were even willing to return to slavery instead of falling in defeat. Yet defeat was never in God’s mind for them. And it’s never in his mind for you. By faith, he is leading you onward into pleasant places.

God never tells us we will avoid all battles and experience no setbacks. He tells us that he is with us in the midst of those battles and setbacks to deliver us, defend us, and restore us. Don’t assume he’ll do magic tricks in your crisis, but do expect him to show himself strong on your behalf. Your heart can rest in his promise to fight for you.

Be still, my soul: your best, your heav’nly Friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.