when God fights for you

Today in the One Year Bible we read from 1 Kings 20:1-21:29. Another king comes and threatens the king of Israel and says he's going to take all of his gold and wives and ... well, the BEST of his kids. Apparently the king of Israel can keep his lesser kids. And shockingly the king agrees to this. "Yes," he says, "You can come take my gold and my wives and the best kids I've got. But that's all."

Strange.

But then the other king doubles down and says he's going to take even more, and the king of Israel is like, "No, my gold, wives, and good kids are enough. You can't have anything else." (It sounds like I'm making this up, but go read it!)

So the other king swears that he's going to destroy Israel so thoroughly that there won't be enough dust left for his soldiers to carry home. And the king of Israel is like, "Bring it."

Then God says, "You see all of those bad guys? I'm going to take them out. Then you'll know that I'm God. (Implication: "you're not.")" And so he tells the king of Israel what to do, and he does it, and the bad guys lose and the good guys win the day.

And that's what happens when God fights for you. When you ask Him to (notice the king of Israel didn't even ask), He will take care of you. Does that mean you won't ever suffer? No. Does it mean you will never die? No. Then what does it mean?? It means He'll take care of you. When you suffer, He'll be right there with you, giving you grace to handle it, and giving your suffering meaning, and using your suffering to make you into a better person. When it's time to die (we all have to eventually), He will be right beside you, giving you grace and strength and joy to face your transition to the next life with courage and dignity.

So don't be afraid. God will fight for you.

God, thanks for being there with us through everything.