The war rages on. 

We pass judgements and sling words. 

But the darkness is so much deeper. 

Hate, anger, jealousy, and greed.

Hearts growing harder.

A battle beyond our grasp.

A battle started long ago.

A battle that has been fought for thousands of years…

A battle that has already been won.

Revelation 7:9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

Hezekiah was being overpowered by the King of Assyria. He was outnumbered but he would not cower. Threats, evil, and a powerful army knocks on His door and he shows great wisdom… He calls on the Almighty… and the Almighty answers.

Isaiah 37:21 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed about the King Sennacherib of Assyria, the Lord has spoken this word against him:…” Isaiah 37 continues with a bold and beautiful proclamation from God… “Whom have you been defying and ridiculing? Against whom did you raise your voice? At whom did you look with such haughty eyes? It was the Holy One of Israel!….” and then he wipes out the Assyrian army without Hezekiah lifting a sword. (Check it out here: 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+37&version=NLT

)

“Because you prayed…” 

I don’t think our mud slinging is necessary. Our God is so much bigger than anything we will ever face. 

Every day Good and evil battle it out in this broken world and within our very souls. We are blessed with knowing how it ends, who wins… who won our freedom – but in this world evil will still try to cause as much pain and suffering

as we will allow when we rest upon our own strength

. This attack is on God’s most beautiful creation… us. If we pretend evil doesn’t exist – satan gets free reign in our beings because how silly would it be for us to fight against something that isn’t real?

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. -1 John 5:19

I want to challenge our actions and words right now – are we allowing God to lead us? Or are we adding to the darkness and fueling the hate and anger?

And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! – Matthew 6:23

We know how this ends. We know the Victor. Will we be faithful to Him? Can we let go of what we think we know to be obedient to Him… to lead in gentleness, faithfulness, kindness, self-control, goodness… God can defeat the armies of darkness – but do we want Him to? 

God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. John 3:19

But believe this, He sent His Son for even One. 

Those who are willing, let us look to Hezekiah as an example and call on God right now to restore peace. “Because he prayed…” The Almighty will never take our free will… we do not have to call on Him and He will not force himself upon us… BUT! if we grant Him passage into our hearts and lives, He will not fail us. 

Lord shine your light into this world. Let the Lord’s army move freely through our country and this world. Open our hearts to you and let us hold tight through the valleys, trusting you. Pour out more of your Spirit into our hearts everyday, bringing your light and love. Show us Your Glory. Amen.