by In the Lord’s Hands!
“Life is not easy for most of us. Right?” We Christian ladies are trying our best to live right for our Lord and Savior. On top of the normal problems of life: aging issues, health issues, family issues, work issues, etc. At times, we even have other people (sometimes other Christians) treat us poorly. It hurts deeply when others gossip and spread rumors about us. It can even hurt our family and our children. “Urggh”, we feel backed up against a wall and do not know what to do.
Sometimes, our flesh wants to step in and just get back at someone for doing us wrong. What do we do? As hard as it may be – leave it in the Lord’s hands.
I Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
We are all human and at times, we just want to get back at people who do us wrong. However, we are supposed to step back and leave our problems with the Lord. He will tend to them – in his time.
I found the following story quite interesting as God had his revenge on the enemy of King Ahab. So be encouraged and know God is still in control of things and he will avenge our enemies.
Here goes the story:
Recently, I was reading I Kings 20 and King Ahab (King of Israel), through the Lord’s help, defeated the Syrians (the enemy). But reading further on in the chapter, the Syrian’s did not stay down. They planned to come back for a second battle. They did not recognize a few things about the Lord of Israel. Today, our enemies do not recognize these things either.
I Kings 20:23 “And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.”
Notice three things:
- One – They did not recognize God as God Almighty. They called him “gods” with a little ‘g’ and thought God Almighty was just another worldly god of another nation. Mark 12:32 “…for there is one God; and there is none other but he:”
- Two – They certainly did not recognize God’s Almighty Power. They thought Israel’s ‘god’ was only strong in the hills. John 1:3 “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
- Three – They certainly never thought God Almighty knew all and that he knew their plans to defeat King Ahab. Ps 9:11 “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man…”
When people do us wrong, or gossip about us, they are not realizing (or they are forgetting) God is God Almighty, God All Powerful, and God All Knowing.
Since God is all the wonderful traits above, he greatly helped King Ahab and Israel. Prior to verse 23, God already knew the Syrians plans.
I Kings 20:22 “And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.”
God knew what the Syrians thought of him.
I Kings 20:28 “And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
God also knew King Ahab was doubting God would help and he needed some comfort and assurance. So, God comforted King Ahab and reassured him when he said, “…I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
Just like us. Sometimes, we like to have comfort and encouragement that things will be ‘okay.’ My advice, “Stay in God’s Word on a daily basis.” God cannot comfort and encourage if you do not talk/pray to him and read his Word.
Back to our battle.
The battle begins in v27 “…the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.” v29 “…the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.”
Then, the Syrians fled to Aphek and God had “…a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left.”v30
“Wow! Did you catch that? God had a wall fall and kill the remaining 27,000 Syrian soldiers.”
Read on about Ahab. He was not a good King. He was quite wicked. In the next chapter, Elijah has this to tell King Ahab.
I Kings 21:20-21 “…because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity…”
Why would God help King Ahab during battle in chapter 20? I believed God stepped in on this battle only because he knew what the Syrians (the world) thought of him. He knew they did not believe he was God Almighty, All Powerful, and All Knowing. He did not help Ahab because of who Ahab was. He won this battle so the world (the enemy of Israel) would know “He is God!”
So, if God would step in on a battle for King Ahab, knowing how wicked he was, just to prove he is God Almighty to the world, how much more can we depend upon our loving God to step in to help us – his children – in a time of need.
Matthew 7:11 “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
One thing we need to keep in mind. Revenge is of the Lord. We need to step back and let him be God. As hard as it may be, “Leave it in the Lord’s hands.”
Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
God is our comforter. He is there for us. When all else fails. When people fail us – and they will. He is there for us. Keep serving the Lord and “Leave your worries and problems in the Lord’s hands. Leave it alone and let God have his vengeance.” Notice in our verse above, God says, “…I will repay, saith the Lord.” It does not say “I might repay.” It says “…I will repay.”
As for me, “I have lived long enough to see God’s vengeance on others. It is not a pretty sight. Not all who have treated me poorly has my Lord avenged, but I have to keep my focus that his vengeance is in his timing and it will come. I should also be praying my enemies would get their lives right with God.” But that is another post for another time. Basically, “I should not just be praying, ‘God avenge my enemies.’”
God will have his vengeance. He does not lie, and he will keep his word.
Here are a few verses to end with:
Psalm 37:1 “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.”
Psalm 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”
Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
In conclusion, if God would help wicked King Ahab, how much more does our Almighty God who is All Powerful and All Knowing also want to help his children who are serving him? Remember, “Leave it in the Lord’s hands.”
