PREVAILING

PREVAILING
....to succeed, to win against the enemy, to convince.

Reading today in II Chronicles 13...a period of internal strife in Israel.
A land divided...Israel and Judah.
Two kings: Jeroboam and Abijah
....one evil and one good
....the former with 800,000 seasoned soldiers, and the latter with half that number.
The former having forsaken the Lord and gone into idolatry,
....the latter with active ministry to the Lord and heart to follow Him.

And the day of open conflict came.

On that day, Jeroboam (the wicked one), with his far superior army, used his cunning and attacked both frontally and from the rear.

It would be a done deal very soon. A crushing defeat for the God-followers.

Or would it?

The key will prove to be not human odds and expertise, but whose side is God on? Who does God choose to fight for?

That is always the key determiner of outcome.

Abijah, the righteous one, sensing the desperation of the moment, leads the people in cying out to the Lord, blowing the trumpets that call for His intervention, shouting in faith and moving headlong into the battle.

They did what they could against all odds.

And then these words rise above the dust clouds and confusion of battle:
"the men of Judah PREVAILED, because they relied on the Lord."

Against incredible odds, they were NOT overcome.

And sprinkled into the text are these expressions:
"the Lord struck"
"God defeated (them)" and
"God gave them (the enemy) into their hand."

So, whatever the odds seem like today,
whatever the malice that is coming against us,
whatever the shocking manoevers of the enemy....
Let's not loose faith.
but let's call out, and do the next thing God gives us to do.

And as we do, let us watch for His Presence with us.

Abijah and us....different generation, different contexts....
same God.

We can PREVAIL.

David