MAKE SURE THAT YOUR BATTLES ARE GOD’S BATTLES…

2 Chronicles 20:15 (ESV)

15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.

ARE YOU IN A STRUGGLE? ARE YOU IN A BATTLE?
Whether your battle be physical, financial, relational, emotional, or social it’s also SPIRITUAL….”For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12 (ESV). All battles are spiritual. And many times as we dig in we proclaim what Jahaziel proclaimed through the Spirit of God, “The battle isn’t  mine, it’s the Lord”. It’s good to put that level of faith and confidence in God, but that statement isn’t true for every battle.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DAVID AND SAUL
Saul and David provide the perfect example of this point. God anointed Saul after Israel asked for a king, rejecting God in 1 Samuel 8.  In 1 Samuel 15, Saul was rejected by God because of his disobedience. He was only partially obedient…he went, and fought and delivered the people from their enemy, but spared the best of the spoil after God had told him to destroy everything. Saul was seeking His own glory rather than God’s, proven by the fact that he set up a monument for himself in Chapter 15:12. Now notice that when David confronted the Philistines and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17, he told them that they have come not against him, but the armies of the Lord. David’s passion was not to bring glory to himself, but to honor the Lord God of Israel (1 Samuel 17:45).
David’s battle was for the Lord…Saul’s battle was for himself. Read 1 Samuel 15 for context and to see the scope of Saul’s sin that led him to be rejected as King, even after being anointed.
Saul was rejected…
David was accepted as a man after God’s on heart (Acts 13:22).

WHO ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR?
The same is true for us today. When we walk in God’s Spirit, His character, His will…our battles are His.
But when we’ve stepped out on our own…
When we go into situations without consulting God in prayer…
When we enter ungodly relationships… When we take jobs that force us to compromise our values…
When we put our own will before God’s… When we’re seeking our own glory rather than God’s (Psalm 115:1)…
When we defile our bodies through sex, bad diet, alcohol or substance abuse… When we’re narcissistic…those battles aren’t God’s – those battles are only ours.

Remember Saul, God never promised to fight the battles that exclude Him UNLESS we truly repent. When we repent, our motives change, we regret our bad decisions…then our battles become the Lords.

BRING GOD BACK INTO THE FIGHT!

BE BLESSTIFIED!