Worship is Greater Than War
Paintball.
I remember the first time I played. Myself and a few of the guys I worked with got a group together and headed out to this massive outdoor paintball complex. Once there, we selected our guns, bought enough paint to last for a few hours and got our gear on. After meeting some other random guys that were there to play, it was time to go to war.
The first course we played was within a mini city made out of plywood. It. Was. Awesome. Well, it was awesome walking through and seeing how massive this place was. But once the whistle blew and the paint began to fly, the sound of how hard it was hitting the outside of the walls of my “second story” position made me rethink my decision of playing. And then it happened… My friend I was positioned with took three shots to the face region right in front of me. The first shot hit him on the region of his mask. But his mask had five slits in it over his mouth so that it wouldn’t fog up. That was great for his breathing. But when the paintball made impact, it splattered all over the inside of his mouth. As he tasted the paintball, it caused him to turn his head at which point the second and third shots hit him on his neck. As he grabbed his neck he yelled out, “I’m hit!” It was like a scene in a movie.
As this dude walked by me to leave the field of play, I could see two massive welts left by the impact of the paintballs on his neck. And as I climbed down the ladder to the first story, I grabbed my other friend who was with me, told him “Nick was gone” and it was just us, and let him know we had to get out of there. Now, as we were exiting where we were at, I made sure he was out in front of me as we moved from building to building… I mean, he was much larger than I was and a better shot. Eventually we were both overrun and taken out. In fact, our entire team of 16 year olds were systematically shot so quickly that I’m sure we were playing against a team who I’m sure could have gone pro. It didn’t matter what we did, who we decided to put out in front of us to try to stop them, each game we played against them they destroyed us as we tried to do battle. They ran straight through us each and every time.
War. It’s something we see talked about in the Bible as well. But the war we read about has much greater consequences than what I experienced in my small paintball war as a sixteen year old. Check this out:
Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. - 2 Chronicles 20:2
And then King Jehoshaphat said to God,
Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. And all of the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord. - 2 Chronicles 20:12-13
Can you imagine standing there? Your wife. Your children. Standing next to you. Knowing that an enormous army was on their way to destroy you and your family. And as they stood there, they waited for God to answer them. And as God answered them through Jahaziel who told them not to be afraid. In fact, he said that the battle wasn’t theirs, it was God’s. He told them that they wouldn’t even have to fight this battle…
‘“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” - 2 Chronicles 20:17
And so, early in the morning they left to head out to the battle field. And Jehoshaphat said, “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” (2 Chronicles 20:20)
And after consulting with the people, Jehoshaphat developed a plan. And what was the grand battle plan? Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and praise Him for His holiness and he placed them at the head of their army as they went out to meet the enemy that was coming to destroy them! What!? I’m sure General Patton wouldn’t have approved! But that’s ok. Because King Jehoshaphat knew that…
Worship is greater than war.
Jehoshaphat knew that worship is a weapon that the Lord uses to fight for us. You see, Jehoshaphat was faced with what seemed like an impossible battle. And in the face of what seemed like complete destruction, we see him seek the Lord in prayer and confess his complete powerlessness to do anything. And God responded to him through Jahaziel telling him, “the battle is His, do not be afraid, stand firm, hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.” And Jehoshaphat and the people responded by worshipping the Lord. And then drawing courage from the Lord, and in their trust and obedience to the Lord, they went out to battle with praise and worship on the front lines.
You and I may not fight the same type of war that Jehoshaphat faced. But we all will come face to face with our own battles. And the Lord wants each of us to know that worship is greater than war. Worship is greater than the battles we face. And it’s through our worship that God fights for us.
You see, it is not up to us to slay the giants, to move the mountains, or even to part the waters. It is not up to us to fight our battles alone and defeat the enemy by ourselves. We are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And to worship Him alone. When we do this, He promises that He will be with us and fight our battles for us. Whether it is doubt or depression. Fear or failure. Whether it is rejection, frustration, anxiety or insecurity. In the waiting, the wondering, and even the reality, God wants to show us His power, His grace, His faithfulness, and His love throughout every season we face. And He wants us to know that worship is greater than the battles we face… He wants us to know that worship is a weapon that the Lord uses to fight for us.
And when we worship the Lord, a few things happen inside us. First, We remember who God is, what He has accomplished through Jesus. And when we are reminded who God is and what He has accomplished through Jesus, we’re comforted by the Spirit of God whom Jesus gave us when we trusted Him as our Savior. Second, What we know to be true in our minds flows into our hearts, and we’re able to engage the Lord with both our heads and our hearts. It’s not based on feelings, but coming into agreement with God at both a head and heart level. And third, “Spiritual power is released and we find peace and rest from oppression from the enemy.” - Matt Chandler
Worship is one of the greatest weapons against the battles we face. When we worship, God fights for us and prevents the enemy’s attempt to take over our hearts and minds. And we’re able to focus on our relationship with God and His love for us and deflect the attack of the enemy.
Worship is greater than war. It’s greater than the battles we face. And when we see people worshipping, especially in their time of need, we are physically seeing God fighting for them. And when we worship the Lord, we are worshipping the God who fights for us.
The Call to Obedience
Obedience.
Just reading or saying that word might make you feel some type of way. When I was a kid, I had to obey at home. I had to obey at school. And by the time I reached my teenage years, I just wanted to do what I wanted to do.
Now, as a parent, I expect and want obedience from my children. So many times Jami and I find ourselves saying, "I just want them to simply obey what we're asking of them. If they would just obey..." And most of our arguments in our house stem from their lack of obedience. If you're a parent, I'm sure you can relate.
Obedience.
Whether you're an adult or a student, it's a word that elicits a number of feelings. And it seems that whether you're a student or an adult, there are what seems to be countless people in our lives that expect obedience from us... including new expectations of obedience from our government. So, now when we hear or see the word obedience, it brings up negative feelings and/or feelings of rebellion.
Obedience can be tough. Especially when you don't respect the person asking for it, or you don't think they have your best interest in mind. And then there are some of us when we think of the word obedience we automatically go into the mindset of, "You're not the boss of me."
And so, when we hear that God wants our obedience... When we hear that we're supposed to obey God... We've already got all these negative associations with the word. And we think, "God's not the boss of me." But obedience doesn't have to be associated to a negative ball of emotions where we simply obey because we think we have to. I've come to the conclusion that when I struggle with obedience, it's because I have a problem with the people asking for my obedience. It's because I don't trust them.
And when I was first told that I'm supposed to obey God and His Word, I was skeptical. I thought, "He doesn't know me. He has no clue what I'm about." But what I've found as I've grown in my relationship with God is that I was skeptical because I didn't know who God was and is. I had no clue what He was and is about. As I read more and more of God's Word, to learn more about God is to learn more about being obedient to Him. And as we learn more about being obedient to Him, a few things naturally happen.
First, as we seek to be obedient to God, we have our eyes opened to the goodness of His Word.
Psalm 119:18 says,
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
You see, if we're going to be obedient to God, we need to read His Word and pray that He will open our eyes to see all of the wonderful things in His Word. And as we read God's Word and ask Him to show us His love and wonderful things in His Word, our desire to be obedient to God will grow more and more.
Second, we will be blessed and be a blessing to others.
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. - James 1:25
When we read God's Word and actually put it into practice, God will bless our actions and our obedience. Not only will we experience God's blessing, but others will also experience God's blessing through us.
Third, it's in our obedience to God that we will find our greatness. Check this out:
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:19
You see, I believe that God doesn't care about how great you are in as much as He cares about how obedient you are to His voice. Over the last year and a half, as I've read God's Word and have honestly prayed to Him, I've realized again what God is calling me to. It's a life changing, God-sized calling. It's a calling that is bigger than I could ever dream of. And a few months ago, as I was mowing my front yard, I was again praying and telling God that I simply want to be obedient to what He's asking me to do. And so, as I mowed, this was the discussion I had with God...
Me: "Lord, I just want to do what you want me to do."
God: "Ok. Then mow your neighbor's front yard."
Me: "What? That's not what I was talking about."
God: "I know. But it's what I want."
Me: "But God, I was talking about something else."
God: "I know. But it's what I'm talking about now."
Me: "But God. I mean I want to obey you in the big areas."
God: "Ya. And so do I. But I also want you to obey in the small areas too. The areas you think don't matter."
And as I finished mowing my front yard, I went over to my neighbor's house and asked if I could mow the front yard. And as I began speaking with her, she began to tell me how thankful she would be as she couldn't get her push mower to work. Had I not listened to God's prompting... Had I not been obedient in this seemingly small thing, my neighbor would have continued to struggle. You see, you can’t pray, "God may I be obedient to You" and then choose not to be obedient. He will always give you an opportunity to be obedient. But you might just miss the opportunity because you think it is too small.
Finally, being obedient to God also builds our character and faith. You see, obedience is easy when there's a clear path... a clear direction. But being obedient to God when there's absolutely no path that's visible to the human eye is character building... it's faith building... it's another level of relationship building between myself and Jami's relationship with Jesus. And it brings to life Psalm 130:5:
I will wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope.
Craig Groeschel said, "A waiting season is never a wasted season." It's easy to look out and see no clear direction or movement to what God has called us to do and want to take things into our own hands and make it happen ourselves. But sometimes, maybe even oftentimes, God is calling you to wait... He is telling you to wait. And the waiting is what He wants you to be obedient to... Because even in the waiting God is moving.
If you're a parent now, or if you will be a parent in the future, one of the biggest blessings you can give your children is by following the call of God on your life... One of the biggest gifts you can give your kids is to be obedient to God.
Obedience.
All of us will be obedient to the voice in our life that has our attention. I pray that the biggest voice in all of our lives is God's voice.
Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. - Deuteronomy 8:6
No Going Back
A couple of spring breaks ago I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for years… like 20 years. If I’m honest, I didn’t know if I’d ever have the chance or work up the courage to do it. The “something” I did? I went skydiving. That’s right. I willingly jumped out of a perfectly good airplane from 13,000 feet.
My friend Daryl and I had made plans to jump while we were on spring break out in Arizona. So, on the day we were to jump, we drove about an hour to the jump zone. Once there, we literally signed our life away and watched a quick video on how to successfully jump from an airplane, then walked out to get our harness strapped on.
After getting strapped up, we made our walk out to the bus that was going to take us to our plane. As we were driving out to where our plane was, we could see groups of people gliding down with their parachutes floating through the air. I couldn’t believe that that was going to be me in a matter of minutes. Once we got off the bus, we headed towards our plane. Each step I took, I kept telling myself that there was no turning back. My nerves were increasing more and more as I approached the plane.
Once inside the plane, myself and my jump instructor headed all the way back towards the pilot. At this point, my heart was beating a mile a minute. But I kept telling myself that there was no turning back… despite the pilot and plane looking like it had been used in multiple cocaine runs between Arizona and Columbia.
Prior to taking off, my jump instructor had me put on my seatbelt. Then, once we were about 500 feet off the ground, he strapped himself to me and instructed me to take my seatbelt off. I actually asked him why. His response, “Well, if the plane goes down, we’re jumping.” Ya, I guess that made sense.
Once we reached 13,000 feet, the skydivers ahead of me began to jump from the plane. Let me tell you, there’s no preparing for the sight of people throwing themselves out of a plane. I literally saw them jump from the door and watched from my window as they fell towards the earth. And then, it was my turn. The jump instructor told me to scoot closer to the door. And each butt scoot we took, I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going back.
And then… we stood up and crouched at the door of the plane. In my head I kept saying, “I’m not going back. I’m not going back. I’m not going back.” The jump instructor tapped me on my arm. And in one final, “I’m not going back,” I crossed my arms, tilted my head back… and we jumped.
It was the most terrifying, exciting thing I have ever done. I thought we were jumping straight out. But instead, when we jumped, the instructor spun us around backwards and I watched the plane as we fell. It. Was. Amazing.
Once we got back to the hotel, Morgan ran up to me and yelled, “You didn’t die!” as she tearfully gave me a hug.
No turning back. That was the theme of my skydiving trip. That’s what I kept telling myself. And that’s what Moses and the Lord told the Israelites as well.
Check this out:
...the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” Deuteronomy 17:16
You see, just prior to crossing over into the land that God promised to the Israelites, He gave them a prescription on how to live a life that would glorify the Lord. And years before the Israelites asked for a king, God laid out His qualities of a good one. One of the qualities the Lord states is that “The king must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them…”
Upon hearing this at first, you might think, “Horses? Who cares about horses. What does this have to do with being a good king?” You see, during this time in history, Egypt was THE place from where other nations bought their supplies of this animal. If you wanted a strong horse… If you wanted the best horse… You went to Egypt. There was one major problem… This was the place the Lord had just delivered them from slavery 40 years earlier. And, in looking out for His people, Moses tells the Israelites…
…’the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”’
God knew that, if the Israelites went back to Egypt, they would go back to their slavery. He knew that, if the Israelites went back to the familiar, they would go back to a life they had cried out to be rescued from. He knew that, if the Israelites went back to their old way of living, they’d be forfeiting every promise that He had given to them. For the Israelites…
Egypt = Slavery
It’s not that Egypt was all bad. There were things in Egypt that were tempting to go back to. For a king, it would be the type and the style and the amount of horses. For others, it was the food. Still, for others it may have been the majesty of their buildings. None of these things in and of themselves are horrible. But in each of these things is the temptation to turn from the promises of God.
And the same is true for each one of us.
God has sent His Son Jesus to die for each one of us (John 3:16). And through the death and resurrection of Jesus, He has called us to a life outside the captivity and slavery of sin to a promised better life. And each of us has a history that we’re familiar with. A history, that if we return to it, would take us back into our captivity. And as we seek to follow Jesus, there are three areas where we will be tempted to return to our captivity of sin... to forfeit the promises of God.
We will be tempted to go back to what we were thinking. “It’s not that bad.” “It’s just one time.” “Nobody will find out.” “I’m better than them.” And we return to the slavery of our thoughts.
We will also be tempted to go back to what we were saying. The type of language we use. Gossiping about others. Tearing others down. Being discouraging with our words. Speaking out of anger instead of love. And we return to the slavery of our words.
And we will be tempted to go back to what we were doing. Going back to that relationship. Living our lives in our pride. Neglecting our families. Forgetting about God. And we return to the slavery of our actions.
But I want to remind you that God is telling us right now... “You are not to go back that way again.” Instead, God has a better way. Micah 6:8 says,
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Instead of going back to what we were doing, we are to act justly. Instead of going back to what we were saying, we are to love mercy. And instead of going back to how we were thinking, we are to walk humbly with our God.
This temptation to go back to our old ways is ultimately a temptation of the mind. And Paul knew this as he spoke to the church in Philippi. It’s true then and it’s true for each of us now. And this is our encouragement for today…
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9