Memo 1091: Mighty in Battle

Hebrews 11 is the familiar chapter that contains many insights into faith and then provides abundant examples of those who exemplified the faith that God loves and honors. As you would imagine, David's name is included among those who are commended for their faith:

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies (Hebrews 11:32-34).

What life lesson can we learn from this reference to David? I'm glad you asked, but to find the answer, you will have to read on.

READY TO GO BEFORE YOU GO

Hebrews 11:34-35 states, "Whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies" (emphasis added). It's interesting that the heroes of the faith, including David, didn't wait until they had strength, rather they stepped out and received the strength they needed after they entered the battle. You may be saying to yourself, "If God gives me strength, I'll go and do this or that." Instead, God is saying, "If you go and do, I'll give you the strength, wisdom, power, ability, information, money, resources—whatever it is that you need." If you are waiting to be ready to go before you go, you may never be ready to go in your own mind.

I've encountered people who have a clear mandate and burden to do something, even believing God has directed them to do it. Yet they tell me things like, "I'm praying about it," but they really aren't. Sometimes they tell me, "I don't have the education or training," or "I'm not spiritual enough; I have to get this or that fixed in my life before I go and do." Have you ever offered those excuses? Are you employing them now in some aspect of your life, ministry, or work?

You may truly need more training or education, and you may need to address a lack or problem in your life. Yet those issues don't disqualify you from doing something today to see God's will furthered in your life. Usually, you can address your issues while you are fulfilling your purpose instead of before even trying to fulfill it. Don't try to figure out all the implications of God's will before you start doing it; start doing it and make your changes and improvements as you go.

DAVID'S LIFE

David was a mighty warrior who led his people into victorious battle again and again. Every battle represented a risk of injury, death, or defeat. Yet David sought the Lord and went into battle with only one assurance: that God went with him. He seldom tasted defeat but probably had many stories of how God moved once they were in the battle to turn the tide and win the day.

If you're going to occupy and maintain the place God has for you, you must learn to act as David and the other faith champions did. You must learn how to trust God that He will be there when you need Him and not before. That means you must act as though He's there before He's there. That means you plan your missions trip without money, committing to go and trusting He will be there when the deadline arrives. It means you apply for school admission, make plans to open the business, or launch your ministry work before you have everything you think you need. You search for the new home, find the new car you need, and plan your vacation even though there's zero resources to indicate those efforts will be successful.

To summarize, the life lesson from this week's story is

learn to plan and act before you have all the resources you need, trusting that they will be there as you move out and not before.

Have a blessed week!