More For Than Against

“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” (2Ch 32:7-8 AV)

There comes a time in every saint’s life when he comes to the end of himself.  He realizes the challenges he faces are more than he can humanly overcome.  He is overwhelmed by the reality of life.  He sees the hurdles in front of him as great and unconquerable walls that no human alive can overcome.  Such was the case with Hezekiah and Judah.  Assyria came with a great force.  Greater than Judah could handle even on their best day.  Even if everything fell correctly, the numbers were simply too overwhelming for the arm of the flesh to overcome.  It just could not happen.  This is how Hezekiah and Judah understood the situation.  It was not a mere emotional response to a daunting threat.  It was reality.  No emotions about it.  It was the truth of pending doom slapping them square in the face.  The thing is, God is not limited to what we can see.  God is not limited to the physical universe.  He is not limited to what we understand as possibilities.  God can and does do about what we ask or think.

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Battle of Midway.  It reminds me of the book of Esther.  One cannot watch that movie without realizing God’s hand in all of it.  Even though God is not mentioned in the Movie, too much happened to give the United States Navy a victory to attribute it to anything else but God.  The same is true of the book of Esther.  God is never mentioned.  Yet one thing after another fell into place to give the people of Israel deliverance.  What we want to remember here is the phrase, “there be more with us that with him…”.  That is, the king of Assyria.  For our sake, it may as well be the Devil, the world, or our failing flesh.  Odds may be against us, but by life or by death, because of the blood of Christ, we are already the victor.

What we have to remember is the enemies of the saint will always be there.  As long as we live in this body of this flesh, they will always be around.  The prayer is to overcome.  Not to eliminate.  The Devil has been on this Earth since Eden.  He is not going anywhere until Christ returns.  We were born with this flesh and we will die with this flesh.  The world was here before our arrival and will be here after we are gone to glory.  But that doesn’t mean we have to live in subjection to them.  Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.  We have a power abiding in us that is greater than anything the enemy can throw at us.  We need to remember this when life is overwhelming.  We have more than that which is against us!