The Day of the Battle

Proverbs 21:31 “The horse is made ready for the day of the battle but victory rests with the Lord.”

A soldier with an untrained malnourished horse won’t be much good to his troop. The victory though attributed to God would be unlikely if all the soldiers neglected their steeds.  The point of the verse that stood out to me is not no matter what the soldier does or doesn’t do victory is inevitable but rather the soldier does all he can to prepare, recognizing the limits of themselves, the limits of their responsibility, and give credit where it is rightfully due.  The victory if it happens is the Lord’s and so it is with me and with you.  We have to shift our thinking from worries, taking control, pointing the blame, to “I must do all I can to prepare then I can trust God for the rest.” With that mind set we have peace because we know that we’ve been faithful to do our part.

Think of areas you have been neglecting. I know for me sometimes it has been the obvious areas my eating habits, my thoughts, my procrastination, my checkbook, and my prayer life.  Think of practical ways to be a consistent with your role as a steward. I know in order to be a good steward of my mind I have had to let go of assumptions in my life, finding comfort in things or people besides God, and even my attitudes about other people.  The thing is God doesn’t want us to be perfect but he wants us to trust Him. If you do He will do more than you can ever imagine.

Psalm 18:31-36

“For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me your shield of victory. You right hand supports me; your help had made me great.  You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.”

God doesn’t promise to eliminate challenges; instead he promises to give us strength to meet those challenges. If he gave us no rough times, no pain, no battles to fight, we would not grow or realize our dependence on Him. He doesn’t leave us in those battles, instead He stands right beside us, teaching us, guiding us, and strengthen us to face it.