Hold Your Ground
Jul 06, 2021
Was reading this chapter in the Bible the other day, 1 Samuel 13:
The Philistines rallied forces against Israel, "...so many infantry they looked like sand on the seashore... and when Israel saw they were outnumbered and in deep trouble, they ran for cover, hiding in caves... and they retreated across the Jordan River..."
Oh Israelites, how I want to yell at you, and yet, I too often relate to you 😛.
What are we facing today? Maybe we can take a moment of reprieve today, but what's still waiting for us tomorrow?
Does anyone else have an army of trouble outside your camp?
The Israelites responded to their very real, legitimate danger by panicking, hiding, retreating OUT of the Promise Land! That seems so obviously illogical & unhelpful as an observer.
Yet, we are so quick to do this ourselves, aren't we?
Danger surrounds us and we retreat out of the peace, faith, hope, love, security, provision, protection, stability, care and so on that God has already provided for us to possess and experience. Danger surrounds and we regress back to the lifestyle or our old, fleshly selves we knew before coming to Christ. Totally common but also unnecessary!
The chapter goes on to say, "But Saul (the King) held his ground in Gilgal, his soldiers still with him, but scared to death."
At this point, Saul has lost a decent number of his soldiers (as they run for cover) but some have remained.
Though they are scared to death, they hold their ground. They hold onto their portion God has given them. And they wait on God.
Sometimes this is our reality - we're not going anywhere yet, and there's an army of real danger staring us in the face. And we're scared to death.
But if you stand your ground, know that you are doing great! Don't stop! Stand resolved, immoveable. Paul tells us why this works later in 1 Corinthians 15:58 (MSG): "...with all of this going for us, beloved brothers, stand your ground. Don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort."
