Sweet Sisters,
In the early years of our marriage, Paul preached a sermon from Deuteronomy 9:1-3:
Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. 2 The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” 3 But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
And Deuteronomy 20:1-4
When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
That sermon spoke in a powerful way about promises that God made to His people, the Israelites, and that we as His People today can also claim.
Let’s look at Deuteronomy 9:1-3 first. Moses tells the Israelites you are about to cross the Jordan River and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. “Dispossess” means to eject someone from real property; to banish; to evict.”
In Max Lucado’s book, Glory Days, he describes the Israelites at this time this way:
Two million inexperienced Hebrews. They had never passed this way before. They could fight snakes, leopards and windstorms. But breach the walls of Jericho? Resist the iron wheeled chariots of the Canaanites? Wage war on the blood thirsty barbarians across the river? Perizzites, Hittites, Canaanites, Amorites . . . Just odd names to us. But names that struck fear of the hearts of the Hebrews.
Moses continues to explain that their cities have walls that reach to the sky. The people are strong and tall (giants) and that they have heard about them. Moses then says, “but…”
(9:3): But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
I love what Moses goes on to say about why God is going to do this for them. It is not because of how good they are or have much integrity they have for they are a “stiff-necked people”. Deuteronomy 9:6:
Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
It is because of who God is and what He wants to accomplish.
Before I go into what his means to us I want to also look at Deuteronomy 20:1-4:
When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Once again, Moses tells the Israelites that when you go to war against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and armies stronger than yours, DO NOT be afraid for the Lord your God will be with you. Especially notice verse 4:
For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Moses says God will fight for you and He will give you victory. Moses doesn’t say God might give you victory, He says He will.
This was an incredible time in the history of the Israelites. To quote once again from Max’s book:
For seven years they were virtually untouchable. Seven nations conquered. At least 31 kings defeated. Approximately 10,000 square miles of choice property claimed. Seven years of unbelievable success. They were outnumbered, but not overpowered. Under equipped, but not overwhelmed. They were the unquestionable conquerors of some of the most barbaric armies in history. They were unstoppable.
Sweet Sisters, you may be reading this and thinking “Wow, what an amazing story! God accomplished powerful, incredible things in the lives of the Israelites. But what does all of this have to do with me?”
Let me tell you what this has to do with you and with me. Do you have giants in your life that are bigger and stronger than you? Do words like cancer, addiction, child abuse, spousal abuse, depression, anxiety, financial devastation, death, divorce, same sex attraction, cause you to tremble with fear? Do you feel overwhelmed and powerless to fight these giants? Do you look at the world you live in and feel like a huge tsunami is bearing down on you?
I am here to tell you that your life does not have to be like that. The Lord your God goes before you and will fight for you and you will be victorious. He is faithful and He keeps His promises. He promised the Israelites and He promises you.
I have written about the fear I struggled with as Paul was approaching his hip replacement surgery. I worried that all kinds of things would go wrong because of his very slow heart rate. I worried about the anesthesia. I worried the surgeon would make a mistake. I worried about MRSA. I was “what-iffing” myself into some really dark places.
Finally, I remembered Paul’s sermon and these verses. I prayed for God to go before us and handle everything that was terrifying me. I prayed that it would all go well and God would be honored.
Let me tell you how that prayer was honored.
I was allowed to be with Paul just about everywhere he went. I waited with him to go to pre-op. Once they got him settled, I was allowed to be with him. I stayed with him until he went to surgery. I was allowed to come into the recovery room. I was allowed to stay in his room with him while he was in the hospital.
Remember my fears about anesthesia? I was able to see the anesthesiologist. He was concerned about Paul’s low heart rate (37 bpm) and at first wanted to postpone the surgery. But once I described Paul’s working out at the gym three days a week and his efforts on the rowing machine, the anesthesiologist agreed to go ahead with the surgery, but he would make modifications to accommodate Paul’s heart rate.
The surgery went well.
When it came time to go to his room is when God spoke to my heart and said, “Let me show you what happens when you trust me!” Eisenhower has a wing called the Greg and Stacy Pavilion. It is the Ritz Carlton of hospital rooms. The room in this Pavilion are actually suites. They include perks like a special menu that you order from and the food is prepared by a special chef. There was an in-room refrigerator stocked with soda and juice. The shower was big enough for 4 – 5 people to be in at once.
A very sweet friend without telling us, arranged for Paul and me to stay in one of these suites while he was in the hospital. We had no clue such hospital luxury even existed.
Sweet Sisters, never again will I doubt the goodness and the faithfulness of the God we serve. Our God wants us to bring every little fear we have to Him. He doesn’t promise to make life easy or to take away the pain and the heartache. The Israelites still had to go to battle and trust God to be with them. But He does promise to go before us and fight for us and that ultimately the victory will be ours.
Debbie 