Fought For And With Us

“For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” (De 20:4 AV)

Israel is a picture of the journey of the N.T. saint.  As Israel went, so too may the N.T. saint experience his or her walk with God.  Israel’s deliverance from bondage is oft seen as a picture of salvation for the N.T. saint.  We are delivered from the bondage of sin.  We are made free in Christ.  Yet, the old man of sin hangs on and we must go through the process of practical sanctification as the old man of sin dies off.  The wilderness wanderings of Israel beautifully picture this.  During our earthly pilgrimage, we go through a growth process wherein the new man grows in faith and obedience and the old man is starved of his desire toward wickedness.  It is a long journey.  At times, it is almost unbearable.  The verse above is a promise given to Israel before and during their wilderness wanderings.  This promise not only covers all the enemies they faced while wandering but extends to their journey into, and throughout, Canaan.  God promised before and during their pilgrimage to fight the battles they would face for them.  God required their participation.  It was not like they could sit back and wait for God to do everything.  They participated in the process.  It was God who would give the victory.

Note here the ‘with’ and ‘for’.  This is a cooperative effort.  Not that God needs our help.  He doesn’t.  He requires our participation.  As much as we would like to lay down our arms and leave it all in the capable hands of our God, that isn’t His desire.  When we stop and think about it, we don’t do for others as we sometimes ask God to do for us.  If there is any effort at all possible, we require it.  It doesn’t matter how much effort.  It could be somewhat impressive, or it could be minimal at best.  But if we help someone, we generally want to see how much they are willing to participate in their own deliverance.  When I pastored in the South, having people who needed help stop by was rather common.  The state welfare system was not the first place those in need would turn to.  It was the churches.  As a rule, the first time someone sought help, we would try to help them with a voucher for food or gas. However, if they repeatedly came, we required they do something for the charity received.  It could have been as simple as coming to services.  Sometimes, albeit rarely, there were those who did things around the church grounds like pick up litter at the roadside or stones and rocks from the lawn.  We were glad to help.  But we were more glad to help if the individual who needed it did their best to meet their own need.

This is a hard thing to hear for some.  We are trained to rely on others, especially agencies or the government as a first resort rather than a last resort.  The verse above is one of great encouragement.  What is the harm in doing all we can and then waiting upon God?  God will not leave us flapping in the wind.  He will not leave the battle totally in our hands.  He will not require of us anything we cannot do without His help.  He will not leave us nor forsake us.  The promise above has an element of challenge, but it is not meant to be the main heart of the verse.  We know that no matter the load we are asked to bear, we can only do so much.  After the limit is met, as the load gets harder and bigger, the LORD is there to keep the load from getting bigger than we can handle.  Yes, we need to see our responsibility in the verse above.  More so, we can take comfort in God’s promise.  He will not leave us alone to be maxed out on our strength.  He will not leave us to handle life on our own.  He is there every time we need Him no matter how much we are overwhelmed by the events of life.  He is there!  Take it by faith!