Gideon and his three hundred soldiers accomplished an impossible victory! It was a battle fought in the physical realm against flesh and blood, fought with unconventional weapons that supernaturally caused panic and destruction to the enemy army, and brought much glory and praise to the God of the Israelites!
All throughout the Bible we see God is a God of Victory!
When Lucifer, God’s covering angel, rebelled against God a battle took place in heaven. Good and evil can’t co-exist, and ever since, there has been a battle between good and evil.
It is a battle between God and Satan, truth and lies, life and death.
*When Satan entices us to conform to the ways of the world, to forget God and not listen to Him, God is for us and comes to rescue us!
*When Satan robs from us and brings scarcity into our lives, and causes us to fear, God’s perfect love casts out all our fear and brings abundant life!
*When Satan’s lies cause us to forget who we are as God’s people and bring doubt and unbelief, God reminds us who we are and who He is!
*When Satan’s strategies form strongholds that are passed from one generation to another so that we worship our father’s gods, God empowers us to tear them down and to restore our worship of Him alone!
*When Satan overwhelms us with impossible situations, God comes to remind us that He is the God of the impossible!
When Satan says we are defeated…
God calls us Victorious!
But, if you read to the end of the story…
“They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them.” Judges 8:34
God’s people needed a Greater Victory over the strategies of the enemy…
God had a plan for a Greater Victory!!!
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Praise God for the Greater Victory that His Son, Jesus, won on the cross! Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for all sin. Jesus’ resurrection form the grave won the victory over sin and death!
“For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
Jesus is Victorious!!!
Satan is a defeated foe!
So what does this mean for us today?
It means that if you are “in Christ” you are Victorious!
“…no weapon turned against you will succeed.” Isaiah 54:17
No matter what battle you are facing, no matter how impossible it looks to you, there is victory for you.
“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
The battle of good and evil continues and one way it is seen is in the form of trials and sorrows, but
“…we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
These evil rulers and authorities, these mighty powers are still battling against God’s people. But, unlike Gideon’s enemies, these are unseen in the physical realm. The evidence that they exist is in the words and actions of people. Often we can forget that our battle is in the spirit realm and we treat those who evidence evil in their words and actions as if they are the enemy.
We fight against the wrong enemy.
We fight in the physical realm.
When we fight the wrong enemy there won’t be a victory.
Victory only comes when you fight the real enemy with the weapons God has provided.
“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
So, what impossible battle are you facing?
A financial scarcity?
A relational falling out?
A health issue?
I’m here to tell you, if you are “in Christ,” you have the Victory!
No matter how much striving you do God doesn’t intend for you to provide for yourself. He doesn’t intend for you to trust in your own ideas, or to lean on your own understanding. He tells you to trust in Him with all your heart, and in all your ways to acknowledge Him. He doesn’t intend for you to look to the ways others are succeeding financially. He says to seek Him and His kingdom first, and then all your needs will be met. In the spirit realm trust and seeking God wield great power. They battle against the strategies of the enemy that are meant to rob from you. They bring ideas and strategies to your mind intended for your good. God has victory for your finances when you put your energy into trusting in God alone and by seeking God first.
That person that seems to be your enemy, isn’t. No matter what the issues are between you, choose to look beyond them and see there is an agenda of the enemy behind their words and their actions. The enemy comes to destroy relationships. There is power in unity and those who love God and are in relationship with each other are a powerful force for the kingdom of God.
“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” Matthew 18:19-20
Two or more believers united are a threat to the enemy. That is why he works so hard to divide and conquer marriages, families, ministries. So stop fighting the wrong enemy and turn your energy to praying for the other person. Whatever the issues are between you they are a result of lies of the enemy and the only way to fight against them is through prayer. As you pray for that person you will be amazed how God works both in your heart and in the heart of the other person! God has victory for your relationship if you choose to fight the battle His way!
The physical and the spiritual can’t be separated. We are spirit beings living in a physical body. The Holy Spirit lives within our flesh and blood. Healing is a complex issue, way too complex to write a paragraph about. But, I do believe the enemy forms strategies against us that are meant to rob, kill, and destroy us, both spiritually, and physically. I believe the physical attacks of the enemy meant for our harm are intended by God to get our attention so that we look to Him. God intends that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. God loves us too much to leave us with compromise and sins that rob us of His blessings and hinder us from doing His will. The thing about health issues is that when something is wrong we run right to the doctor to take care of us. We don’t consider that perhaps it is a strategy of the enemy meant for our harm. We don’t believe that perhaps there is a sin issue that our Great Physician wants to show us so that we can confess it and be healed.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16
God has victory for us, body, soul, and spirit! While doctors have their place, I encourage you to run first to your Great Physician. You will be amazed when He shows you a sin, you choose to fight in the spirit realm with a prayer of confession, and find you are instantly healed!
Stop fighting in the physical realm, you are fighting the wrong enemy!
Learn to fight in the spiritual realm with the weapons God provides!
Embrace the Victorious Life you have in Christ!