HOW TO LOSE A BATTLE Part 1 The Beginning

I did not expect this series to have posts that were going to be in parts – but hey! I’M not in charge of this blog! I follow the orders,precepts and directions of my Commander in Chief. Almighty God knows us best and can direct our lives the best! Keep that phrase in mind! Let me capitalize it: ALMIGHTY GOD KNOWS US BEST AND CAN DIRECT OUR LIVES THE BEST! Before I can even do justice to the title of this series, I have to take us back – back to the time when the last Judge of Israel was active. His name was Samuel. Please read the passage below from the book of 1 Samuel 8…

8 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges for Israel. ² His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. ³ But Samuel’s sons did not live as he did. They tried to get money dishonestly, and they accepted money secretly to make wrong judgments.

⁴ So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live as you do. Give us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.”

⁶ When the elders said that, Samuel was not pleased. He prayed to the Lord,⁷ and the Lord told Samuel, “Listen to whatever the people say to you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me from being their king. ⁸ They are doing as they have always done. When I took them out of Egypt, they left me and served other gods. They are doing the same to you. ⁹ Now listen to the people, but warn them what the king who rules over them will do.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told those who had asked him for a king what the Lord had said.¹¹ Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and his horses, and they will run in front of the king’s chariot. ¹² The king will make some of your sons commanders over thousands or over fifties. He will make some of your other sons plow his ground and reap his harvest. He will take others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to make perfume and cook and bake for him. ¹⁴ He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them all for his own work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that time comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose. But the Lord will not answer you then.”

¹⁹ But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No! We want a king to rule over us. ²⁰ Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will judge for us and go with us and fight our battles.”

As I was reading up for this post, a truly “aha!!!” moment jumped out at me. I served in the military for 26 years….BECAUSE of history! The tradition was laid down. IF we as His creation would have stayed with HIM as our Commander, I never would have had to be a soldier. You see, if you can recall anything of the early books of the Bible, GOD,,,Yahweh to the Israelites, was their judge, their king, their military leader and their redeemer. Look back at verses 7 and 8 above: The people, God says, have not rejected Samuel, they rejected God ONCE again. You know, we are no better! Look at modern history WITHOUT God. Wars, famine, disease and death..all because right from the Garden when Adam and Eve sinned. WE inherit the sin nature. The Bible says that anything that we think is good or righteous about ourselves is what?. Remember the verse in Romans 3:10? “Not one of us always does what is right, not one” (NCV). Compared to the holiness of God, our goodness is like filthy rags.  We are in the state we are right now in the world because of sin – not terrorists, not global elite, not corrupt governments and certainly not global warming/climate change!!! We have created this mess because humankind has rejected God as their King. What did the Israelites use as their reason? We want to be like the other nations. How were the other nations? They worshipped many gods and some worshipped none. 

So, to summarize, LONG before we learn how to lose a battle, we need to remember this lesson: The downfall of a nation or an individual begins and ends the same. When we or a nation, think we can do it better than God; or we delude ourselves into thinking there is NO God; then we fall. People, it happened to the very ones that God chose as His people. He WAS their Sovereign. He WAS their light of truth and guidance. He WAS their provider. That wasn’t good enough. Oh sure! they had moments of repentance and change. They didn’t last.  Today, we have the same sin that infests and destroys.  WE choose to not have Him as our Commander in our nations. We want leaders and Presidents and Kings and Queens. So, God, says to us, just like He did to Israel..I will give you what you want!  Is it any wonder that we have the evil that we do? Oh soldiers of the cross! Come back to the King of Kings. Embrace again your true love. He came once as a baby. SOON AND VERY SOON He is coming as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue confess that this “little child” is Jesus! The song that I end this with is a powerful truth about the King of Kings. Remember, there is a lyric in here that says that every nation that has fallen, has fallen from within. Within each of us lies the seed of sinful rebellion. Turn today to the King of Kings and kneel once again before Him and declare Him our Redeemer and Lord!