Rising To Ruin

“For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.” (Jos 11:20 AV)

 

The enemies of God allied themselves together against Israel.  They came with passion and with force.  They didn’t hold back.  If I were Joshua, I am thinking this is insurmountable.  I am thinking the sheer number of adversarial forces coupled with their resolve to destroy the nation might give pause for panic.  But it was all of the LORD.  Just like Egypt, the enemies of God will rise up in full force.  They will come with everything they have.  Like the battle of Armageddon, the God-haters will come completely resolved to kill God.  They will not come half-hearted.  They will not rise up with only half of what they have.  It will be one hundred percent.  What is true in the physical world is also true in the spiritual.  Whether it be sprite or self, the enemy of the saint will rise with everything they have.  Don’t be alarmed.  It is of the LORD.  God allows it that they might be completely destroyed.  No battle is worth fighting unless it is for the whole prize!

I don’t like bees.  I understand they are necessary.  We wouldn’t have food without them.  Yet no one likes the swarming and stinging.  That is me.  I have already regaled the story of the hive of honey bees that invaded our house.  It only took a few hours and there was an entire hive of honey bees that invaded our house.  It was so bad, that we couldn’t enter the dwelling.  There were literally hundreds of thousands of bees in the house.  The exterminator came out the next day and cleared them out.  It took us three days to clean the dead bees out of the house.  Each time we moved something, there were a few dead bees to sweep up.  When we lived in Kentucky, there was this orange wasp that loved to build nests all over the place.  We had at least a half-dozen nests at any one time.  One particular summer, we had wasps that made it from the front porch to the attic.  They were all over the place.  So, on to the battle, we raged.  The key to wiping out a bee's nest is timing.  You have to put up with swarming bees until they settle into their nest.  This I did for these wasps.  I waited until about fifteen minutes before dark.  Then I got a few cans of lawn fogger.  I sprayed three full cans of the fogger. Two up into the porch ceiling where they were getting in, and one into the attic.  When I got up the next day, there were wasps all over the place.  Mission accomplished!  I had to allow all the pests to congregate and pose a real threat until I could wipe them all out!  That is the only way to take care of those wasps and bees.

We may become concerned by the sheer level of threat the world, the devil, and the flesh can wage.  But take heart.  The LORD has not lost His ability to fight for us.  Perhaps He is allowing the battle to crescendo until He sends His full force against it.  Don’t get worried.  Don’t lose faith.  The LORD is bigger than anything we will ever face.  The LORD is not overwhelmed by creation.  He made it!  He is not outnumbered, outmatched, or outwitted.  The LORD knows what He is doing and often times He allows the adversary a little ground only to send complete defeat at the end.  The world has always hated God.  They have always risen up and thought they could defeat Him.  This has been the case since the tower of Babel.  The devil is so arrogant as to think he can take a place in heaven equal with God Himself.  What a fool.  These enemies and so many more cannot pose a threat to the LORD.  They are defeated.  They just don’t know it yet.  So, be encouraged.  That besetting sin’s days are numbered.  The persecutors only have this life to enjoy their cruelty.  The world may seek to destroy everything godly, and it may seem as though they are succeeding, but the LORD is returning and all this nonsense will be dealt with.  God is our victor.  It is just a matter of time.