How to Win a Battle

How do I win a battle? I mean a battle against satan. He attacks and attacks, even uses my own children against me (you know…like those whining fits in Walmart). And just when I feel like I’m finally making progress in my walk with God, I’m hit again, and then again until I feel worn and tired and broken.

So how do we win against that? How do we get satan to go away? Because aren’t you just tired of getting beat up?

The answer: Do nothing.

Ok so maybe it’s not “nothing” but it can certainly feel like you’re doing nothing.

Have you ever read about this guy in the Bible name Gideon? Israel was being attacked over and over and over by the Midianites, and they were crying out to God. So God calls this guy to defeat the Midianites. Gideon starts out getting an army together of 32,000! Yes! That will do it. But God says that it’s too many people, and they have to send some home. Now they’re down to 10,000. Ok, not as great as 32,000 but sure, with God on his side, they can take ’em out. No problem. But, nope, God says it’s still too many. So the army is whittled down to 300. 300! Oh, I forgot to mention how big the Midianites’ army was. Here’s what the Bible says about Midian: “It was impossible to count the men and their camels.” Innumerable. That’s how big they were. 300 against innumerable. Oh, it’s get better. Then God assigns their weapons- jars, torches, and trumpets. Not a sword. Not a shield. Not even a catapult. Who goes to battle without a sword?! That’s just crazy!

But Gideon takes his army and does what God says to do. At midnight, they travel to the cliff that surrounds the Midianite camp, separated into groups of 100, making the army even smaller, and THEN they spread out around the cliff so that it’s as if everyone is alone. All at once, they smash their jars, reveal their bright torches, and blow their trumpets. The Midianites come out of their tents so confused and discombobulated that they turn their swords…on each other.

The Midianites were defeated with jars, torches, and trumpets. What did the army actually do? I’d say nothing but I guess it wasn’t really “nothing.” They followed God. They did what He said so He could do what He does best, win. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been to obey God when He says to take trumpets to battle and not take a sword. (That was cliff notes of Gideon. For the full story, check out Judges 6-8.) 

Has God ever done that to you? Told you do something that seems crazy? “Hey, I want you to move to another town and work with kids who have had a hard life and who will treat you like the enemy. And because it’s a ministry, I know you’ll think you won’t have enough money. I know you have no idea how’s it going to work out, but I do.”

“Hey, you should quit your job and homeschool your kids. I know you think you don’t know what you’re doing, but I do.”

“Hey, I want you to be kind to that lady who acts like she’s better than everyone else. I know how she makes you feel. You might not see the good that it will do, but I do.”

Sometimes the battles in our lives seem impossible to make it through, and God’s instructions seem weird and illogical. But God knows what He’s doing.

One more story…

Moses. You’ve probably heard of him. He’s the guy who led the Israelites out of Egypt. This story happened in the book of Exodus, long before Gideon was alive. The Israelites had been the slaves of Egypt for 430 years, so long they probably didn’t know what it was like to be free. They cried out to the Lord to save them, and God sent Moses to bring them out. After 10 plagues from God that crippled Egypt, Moses walked the people out of there, but Pharaoh gathered his army and chased them down. He wanted his slaves back! While the Israelites walked on foot, Pharaoh chased them on chariots. And when the Israelites got to the Red Sea, they were trapped. There was nowhere to go. They were terrified and cried out in fear. They truly believed that they would die. Either the army was going to kill them or the waters would. There was no escape, no rescue! They turned on Moses “Why did you bring us here? We should have stayed!”

Moses said, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and you will see the Lord save you today. You will never see the Egyptians again. The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still.”

God saved them by splitting the water down the middle and clearing a path for them. Then as the Egyptians followed them in, God crashed the sea on top of them, wiping them all out. He saved them through the water, the very thing they were scared of.

And all they had to do was be still.

In both stories, God fought and won the battles for the Israelites. And God is fighting and winning for us too. He might ask us to ridiculous things, go to obscure places. But most of the time, God asks us to do ordinary things, like don’t yell at your whiny kids or be kind to rude people. In everything, we are to obey, be still, and let Him work.

Maybe you’ve been attacked by satan over and over. You feel worn down, like you want to run and hide. I want to encourage you to stand up instead. Stand with confidence in your God, knowing that He will win the battle and you don’t have to.

Maybe you feel caught between two choices and either way you just know will end awful. Remember: “The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still.” Pray and rest in knowing that He’s got this. He will clear the path.

Ok so maybe the answer to how to winning a battle isn’t really “do nothing.” But I’m sure the Israelites felt like they were doing nothing while they waited for God to do something. Waiting can be the hardest part sometimes. But I can assure you that waiting for God’s outcome is so much better than we try do win the battle ourselves.

So what’s your battle? And what are you going to do about it?