Finishing up this three-installment blog series today, I want to ask you a very simple question: do you believe in your heart that God is for you, that He wants you to win? Please linger over that question a few moments before you answer. Your response is actually a big deal, and both the trajectory and the quality of your life will be shaped by whether or not you believe that God is actually for you in this life. The first part of this 3-part blog series focused on the big picture of what we learn about God’s ways in Exodus 23. The second part focused in on why God often seems to operate in low gear when we want Him to launch quickly on our behalf. Today, from the example in ancient Israel, I simply want to reassure all the children of God that He is undoubtedly, unwaveringly for us.
“I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.” – Exodus 23:31
The geography mentioned above will not likely stir your heart for great things. You might struggle to connect those boundaries promised to Israel with what God is doing in your life today. Let’s just unpack the big-picture principles of what God was telling His people who were about to step into the fullness of their inheritance. God said to them:
- “I am not half-stepping with you, My children. I am giving you this whole territory for your own.”
- “The opposition you encounter as you follow Me has already been dealt with. It is a done deal.”
- “You are going to need to do your part to secure this victory I have ordained for you. Are you willing to fight for it so that you will win?”
God has now come full circle with Israel. If you remember, His opening statements to them were very similar to this closing statement. God was feeding Israel and encouragement burger. A slice of “Yes you can!” on the top, a slice of “This is going to be awesome!” on the bottom, and whole bunch of meaty promises about their forthcoming victory rested in between. Give me a bite of that right now!
The day that you allow your heart to believe that God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit are wholly for you is the same day that your life begins to take on the scent of overcoming. Paul the Apostle asked in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” He was calling us to the dead-level certainty that nothing can gain mastery over us while our lives are characterized by intimacy with God. Nowhere does it say in the Bible that we won’t be attacked, slandered, betrayed, abandoned or resisted. Clearly all of these can and do occur. That reality fuels the call from God to Israel to understand that they were to “drive {the opposition} out”. I love this because it places us on offense instead of defense. God is promising His presence, His power and His provision to His children as He makes them aware of their enemies. Then, like an empowering father, He says, “Now go out their and whip them good!”
He is for you today. He is for you today. He is for you today.
No matter the struggle, no matter the size of the giant getting in your face, no matter the intensity of the nervous quake within your not-too-confident heart… God is for you and He is with you. Stand your ground and your enemy will flee when you show up to the confrontation. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He keeps speaking courage into you. Refuse to listen to the voices of insecurity, doubt and fear when they sing in their debilitating three-part harmony over you. You have an inheritance in the land God has assigned to you. He will meet you with power that meets each battle. He knows how to promote you in victory, and He is well aware of your opposition’s weak points. He knows the soft place in your enemy’s underbelly and can guide your arrow to that exact spot if you will raise your bow in faith and shoot. God does not do defeat. He does not send His faithful, obedient and trusting children into battle so that they will lose. God has attached His name to your life, so He has a vested interest in your victory. He does not just do it for you, He does it with you because He wants you to share those winning days with Him. Israel believed God and crossed over that massive river, marched into Canaan land, and defeated the enemy in order to procure what God had stored up for them. It took seven years of battling to fully receive what had been promised.
But it never would have happened had they not chosen to believe that God was for them.
It will never happen for you if you do not choose to believe the same.
So believe.
Today.