Facing Opposition

Some people make the mistake of thinking that those who face opposition must be outside of the will of God. These are the people who believe life in God is supposed to be a perpetual picnic. But God never promised us a walk in the park. While I am fully convinced that with God on our side we will win every battle, I would be a fool (and you would too) to think that we are not going to be involved in any. we have been taking a close look at Shammah, one of David's three key mighty men. For this message, however, I want us to be introduced to all three.

The first of the three listed in 2nd Samuel 23 is actually the leader of the pack. His name is Jashobeam and he was a Hacmonite. The Bible tells us that he was the mightiest of David's mighty men. Jashobeam once used a spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle. Our modern moviemakers have a pretty good imagination, but Jashobeam fought 800, with just a spear, and this was no movie, it was real life and it was surely real hard. But he survived to fight another day. He never backed down. He never quit. He never threw in the towel. He knew it was life or death for him and he chose life.

The next on the list is Eleazar son of Dodo, a descendant of Ahoah. Before I go any further, let me just ask this question? How would you like to go through life as the son of a guy named "Dodo"? OK, lest I digress, let me get back to the lesson. Once Eleazar and David stood together alone against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled. Think about that for a moment. They were in the middle of a fierce battle, completely engaged in ferocious conflict, when all their men ran away in fear, leaving no one but David and Eleazar behind to fight. WOW!! For David to stay is understandable, because he was the leader, but for Eleazar to stay by his side says a great deal about his character. Eleazar was loyal, committed, and courageous. The Bible says that Eleazar killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword. When it was all said and done he had fought so hard that his hand literally stuck to his sword. Wow. His hand was stuck in the fighting position. And guess what? The Bible does not say that he and David fought hard because they had sinned. The Bible does not say that the Philistines came because the Israelites had messed up. No, the Philistines came because they were enemies and we will always have enemies (natural and spiritual).

What the Bible does say is that "The LORD gave him a great victory that day!" Who did the fighting? David and Eleazar. To whom does the Bible attribute the victory? To the Lord! Why, because David and Eleazar were not fighting alone. The Lord was with them and while He did not deliver them FROM the fight, He did deliver them IN it! That should be good news to you today! The third and last mighty man is Shammah. We will talk more about him Monday.

So what does this mean to you ? A few things:

1. Facing opposition is not an automatic indicator that you are outside of the will of God. Trust me I am going through this right now.

2. Just like we have a real God who sends his servants help us in our journey, there is also a real devil who will send his servants to oppose us, in hopes of keeping us from arriving at God's expected end for our lives.

3. Whether facing natural or spiritual opposition, we must renew our Warrior Spirit so that we don't back down and so that we never quit!

4. God will fight WITH you, but He will not always do all the fighting FOR you. There are times when He delivers you FROM the fight and then there are times when He delivers you IN it!

Father, I thank You for rekindling the Warrior Spirit in me. I know I will face opposition. You said, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" and "In the world you will experience tribulation." But You also said, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" and "Fight the good fight of faith!" I declare, by faith, that I will. I am determined to walk by faith and not by sight. I will not allow what I see to change what I say. I refuse to cower, shutter, or shirk. I move forward ever, backward never. No matter what I face in life I shall not quit! I am fully determined to arrive at Your desired destination for my life, because I have a Warrior Spirit burning inside of me that keeps me going! In Jesus' name. Amen!