Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Small Victories

This morning as I am writing this and drinking my coffee I was thinking about how in our walk with God as believers we get opportunities to win over something, however small, that may have plagued us in the past. It could be not taking a second helping of ice cream if we are committed to losing weight for our health, or not snapping at a family member over not cleaning up their mess at the dinner table, or not turning to look at an attractive person as they walk by. And while these seem like small things to us perhaps, this morning I am asking myself, are they really small? I am reminded of the many great battles in history and scripture. In each case in scripture there were elements of waiting on God that are common to these small victories of ours.

1 Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

Here we see that David had been tested and tried in battle for his father’s flock. In those cases God (Yehuah) delivered David from the lion and the bear. Because of those battles David trusted God in this bigger battle. Our small victories serve as lessons for future battles. They also serve to teach us that we can trust God to Show us how to win and to win for us. Our small victories are on the path to a victorious life and the understanding of how we do spiritual warfare.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High God. You alone are worthy to be praised for all the battles You fight for us. We need Your kingdom around us to protect us and our families. Send Your abundant provision today. Forgive us when we sin, and lead us away from those things that cause us to stumble. Heal our hearts. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.