You're Surrounded...Praise God!

                                                   

“We’re surrounded, that simplifies the problem”

Marine Corps Colonel Chesty Puller

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Ever have the feeling of being so overwhelmed, that it felt as if the walls around you were beginning to close in and just crush the life out of you?

Those are the moments when you lack the physical strength to fight back, nor do you feel like talking to anyone. Sometimes it seems as if our “Get up and go” has got up and went. What is the born again believer to do when he or she has reached their limit, where do they turn for help?

I hate the feeling of being caught between a rock and a hard place, no one should ever have to experience that level of frustration, or shouldn’t they?

It’s very strange to me how church-folk have all of these great sayings when not directly facing hardship; “the Lord won’t put more on you than you can bare”…”God is good all the time”… and the list goes on. But where does all of that positive re-enforcement go when we are surrounded by difficult times?

I’ve come to the realization that too many Christians neglect to factor in that when God is ordering our steps, he doesn’t just send us down a yellow brick road to the Land of Oz. Even so, we still encounter lions, tigers, and bears along life’s journey… “Oh My!”

 The word of God is laced with historical and biblical facts that reveal the lengths to which the Lord will go in order to protect and prosper his people. God proved just how much he loved Israel when it seemed as if they’d be pushed into the Red Sea by the armies of Egypt. (Ref. Exodus 14)

God allowed Satan to touch Job’s wealth and health which proved that not only is God sovereign, but he also restores. (Ref. Job 1:1-22 & 42:1-17)

Ok, you might be thinking to yourself; well those are isolated incidents against one enemy, and I would agree; however there are a couple of instances when the people of God were surrounded by numerous odds.

 One of these instances occurred when the Kingdom of Jerusalem found themselves under attack from three enemies all at the same time. The kingdoms of Moab, Ammon, and Mt. Seir arrayed themselves together against the out-numbered people of Judah and surrounded the Kingdom in preparation for war. (Ref. 2^nd Chronicles 20)

 Imagine yourself being suddenly out-numbered by financial depression, un-employment, having more month at the end of your money, health issues, marital problems…

 Simply yelling “calgon take me away” will not suffice, it’s in those moments that we need to rely on the super natural power of the Holy Spirit to relieve, redeem, and restore. King Jehoshaphat did the following:

1.      He worshiped the Lord from the depths of his soul

-         Never look to the Lord as just a way out of your predicament, but worship him in Spirit and in truth. (Ref. John 4:24)

2.    He sought instruction from the Lord

-         In Spiritual warfare one cannot depend on their own way of doing things; for starters the fight is not one of a physical nature, but it’s fought in the heavenly’s. Therefore we must enquire of the Lord what steps we should take to bring about certain victory. (Ref. Proverbs 3:5-6, Ephesians 6:12, 1^st Samuel 30:6-8)

 We often say that the Lord works in mysterious ways…and in Jerusalem’s case, that’s exactly what happened. Jehoshaphat was instructed by God to send singers ahead of the soldiers onto the battlefield. This tactic not only confused the enemy, but it would cause them to attack and destroy each other, which allowed Judah to reap the spoils of war (Ref. 2^nd Chronicles 20:21)

 This indeed does prove the saying; “when praises go up, the blessings come down”. When the dust from the battle cleared, Judah was three days collecting so much wealth from the bodies of their attackers that it was just too much for them to carry. They spent the fourth day in the Valley of Berachah blessing the Lord.

What’s the moral of the story?

When you find yourself at what seems to be the mercy of your dilemma, that’s not the time to surrender;

 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16

 You’re surrounded…”Praise God!”