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Deuteronomy 20 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
A lot of us have never thought about what it means to go to war vastly outnumbered. When the facts of the situation do not look to be in our favor, where do we turn? How do we continue to move forward? How do we go to battle knowing we are not strong enough?
When you look through the history of Scripture, you find men and women who were forced into situations where they had to trust God instead of their own strength. In fact, just thinking about the story of Samson is a great example of how much we take advantage of God’s grace. Samson abused the strength of God… until it was gone. It was probably at that moment he realized that everything he did was only made possible by God’s hand.
But we do this every day, right? We go out to “battles” and face them in our own strength. When we face an army in front of us that has us outnumbered, we think of a strategy that will help us prevail. But God has promised to give us victory if we trust Him. It sounds so easy on paper, but it is so difficult to walk out practically.
The presence of the Lord is greater than the stress you face today. The presence of the Lord is greater than the lies the enemy has spun. The presence of the Lord does not grow weary or lose strength. The presence of the Lord is always faithful, reliable, and timely. This is where we must place our faith!
If we can handle the situation on our own, we tend to lose focus on the Lord. When we are brought to a weakened state where there is no way we can move forward in our own strength, we are forced to trust God. This is exactly what He wants and precisely why He allows circumstances to weigh on us. He knows that the testing of our faith will bring perseverance and root us on the foundation of His promises.