Letting the Lord fight our battles

"One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving." -- Ps. 62:11-12

I'm thinking this morning what a difference it is when we let the Lord fight our battles rather than taking matters in our own hands. Our flesh pulls us to try to take care of our problems. The Spirit calls us to lean on God, seek out His will in the challenge we're facing and humbly ask Him to have His way in our lives.

This morning, while sitting outside and seeing this gorgeous sunrise that the Lord created, I read two stories of David's life that illustrated this truth so well. His enemy, Saul, came into the cave where David was hiding. David's men urged him to kill the king, but the man after God's own heart refused to hurt the Lord's anointed.

Then that jerk Nabal refused to help out David and his men, so the soon-to-be-king decided to take revenge. The flesh took control. But God in His mercy sent Abigail to stop David from doing such a foolish thing. And eventually the Lord took care of Nabal, causing his death.

I love the response of David to how God used Abigail to intervene:

"Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands." -- 1 Sam. 25:32-33

At our devotional at work today, we read this passage out loud. And when we finished hearing the word of God, we were all struck by the power of this story. One of our volunteers responded by quoting Rom. 12: 19, "Revenge is mine says the Lord."

Seems to me we all need some Abigails in our lives, to keep us from reacting in the flesh. And to allow God to fight our battles.

The song that came to mind was "The Battle Belongs to the Lord."

Today you might read this story out loud -- 1 Sam. 25:1-42. Ask the Lord to show you how He will fight whatever battle you're facing today. And then let Him do the fighting.

Jim