Pick Your Battles

“And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper. And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.” (2Ch 26:5-6 AV)

This statement regards Uzziah, king of Judah.  He ascended to the throne at age sixteen and served for 52 years.  That was quite a term.  For reference, David served 40 years.  For anyone to serve for such a length of time, he had to do some things right.  Uzziah learned the lessons his father’s mistakes cost him.  Amaziah made the mistake of warring unwise wars.  He was too quick to make allegiances that God did not bless.  One of them was with the tribe of Ephraim.  This would come back to haunt in because they would turn on him, invade Jerusalem, destroy the wall, and carry away all the riches of the temple and palace.  This led to Amaziah’s infamous death at the hand of his own people.  Amaziah simply did not fight the right battles with the right people.  Uzziah learned this lesson.  Rather than pick fights with fellow Jews, Uzziah tuned his attention to defensive projects like build border cities and adding towers to the wall of Jerusalem.  He built towers for defense in the wilderness as a means of early detection of enemy advances.  The only offensive measures taken are mentioned above.  He went on the offensive against the Philistines.  What is also of note is Uzziah’s habit of listening to, and heeding, the word of God given to him by the man of God.  It is important to know what battles to fight and what are not to be meddled in.

Where I live, it seems as though there are more dogs than people sometimes.  We knock on a lot of doors.  About every third to every other door has a barking dog behind it.  A significant number of those are aggressive breeds.  Home owners probably own these breeds for safety reasons.  Home invasions are not common despite the size of our city.  People know if they attempt a break-in, there just might be a snarling dog who could inflict great bodily harm behind that door.  Because there are so many canines, confrontation often ensues.  Walking your dog is not necessarily a perfectly safe thing to do.  On a site where information is shared, it is not uncommon for someone to report a confrontation with an aggressive breed of dog.  In our own neighborhood, there are several such dogs.  One in particular seems to escape and roam the neighborhood.  Next door, there are two much smaller lap dogs and across the alley is another smaller lap dog.  The thing about smaller breeds is they may have what is called ‘smaller dog syndrome’.   They can become aggressive with anything they perceive to be a threat.  Such was the case with our lone doggie neighbor.  The bigger one broke his lead and began to roam the neighborhood.  These two dogs met.  The smaller one, feeling threatened, reacted.  The larger and more aggressive dog did not hold back.  Several stitches later, that smaller dog learned a lesson.  Sometimes there are battles you are better off avoiding.  They are not yours to fight.

There are battles to fight and battles to avoid.  In self-defense class, the phrase, “evade, evaluate, engage” is stressed.  The three ‘e’s of self-defense.  When confronted with a threat, the wisest thing to do is evade.  If there is a way to avoid confrontation, then the threatened one should seek that out.  Next is to evaluate the situation.  Once relative safety is achieved, how involved should the threatened individual become in resolving the conflict?  Is simply calling the authorities the best and safest choice?  Or, is the use of force the best option?  Then the victim is to engage.  Safely!  Call 911.  Engage the suspect safely. Safe for you and all who might be harmed.  Wisdom is needed when a battle presents itself.  The first question to ask is, is this battle mine to fight?  Amaziah made his first mistake by involving Ephraim in a battle rather than trust the LORD.  When he insulted them, they turned on him.  Uzziah showed much wisdom in not exacting revenge on Ephraim.  Rather, he fortified his defenses and went after an enemy which God has ordained.  Knowing what battles to wage and what to leave alone goes a long way in surviving the journey before us.