Main Idea: Believers are to face life’s inevitable battles with God’s strategy.

While Kathy and I were on vacation we had the opportunity to spend some time with our daughter and son-in-law in New Orleans. On Saturday we spent about four very sobering hours at the D-Day Museum. I had been there before but wanted to go back with Kathy to see the newly completed War in the Pacific section. Kathy’s father was a POW in Japan from 1942-1945 and we both knew it would be particularly meaningful.

When you first enter the War in Europe section you are confronted with three clear partitions that hold small toy soldiers. One represented the size of the army of Japan, the other the size of the army of Germany and in between the size of the army of the United States. What is shocking is that the size of our armed forces in 1939-1940 was approximately one-third the size of those of Japan and Germany. Yet from that tremendous disadvantage of men and material in less than five years those nations were forced by our military might to surrender unconditionally.

As we left the museum, touched by the sacrifice for freedom paid by the men and women of that generation, I could not help but wonder, "If we could control the world sixty years ago, why are we losing people in Iraq day after day?" Of course I know the answer is that it is a different enemy, fighting a different war with different methods. Our nation has always been slow to learn that you don’t fight current wars with predetermined strategy. History, our own history, should teach us that you don’t fight all the battles the same way.

We all face battles in our lives. They are inevitable. While they may not be immediately threatening, they are coming. No one is exempt. The question is not if you are going to face a battle but what strategy are you going to use—yours or God’s. Just like our conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan today our battles require fresh strategy for continued victory.

The battles in life will come in the form of an annual physical when the doctor announces, "I see something peculiar on your chest x-ray. You had better come in for more tests." Or, your boss may call you into his office to announce that your department is being eliminated. Or, it may arrive when a police officer informs you that your spouse has been in a tragic car accident. Or, it may come calling with the sudden death of a child, or the little discouragements and setbacks that eat away at your self-esteem. If you are not confronting an attack now, it will come. When these skirmishes arise, how will you approach them? Will you be ready? Eccles. 9:11-12 says, "I have observed something else in this world of ours. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle…People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often caught by sudden tragedy."

There are three inappropriate ways to face these battles. Presumption says, "The tragedies of life will never happen to me. I’m insulated. I’m protected. I’m careful." Pride says, "When the battles come, I’ll make it through on my own. I don’t need anyone else. I’m tough." Panic says, "Oh, no. Not me. What will I do? I never expected this. I’m not ready. My life will crumble." A better way to face the battles of life exists. It comes by following a plan. It’s not a plan of specifics for each battle but a strategy of principles that can help us in any battle.

This plan for winning life’s battles is found in Joshua 8. The Hebrew nation had suffered its only defeat at Ai due to the sinfulness of one person. Now, under God’s direction they were ready to follow his plan that would lead them to victory. "See to it; you have my orders" (Joshua 8:8), God told the Hebrews. The strategy that God gave Joshua is the same one that we need to study, to learn, and to know in order to stand the tests and trials of daily living.

What is the strategy? It begins with something very basic and that is we must first believe that we are in a battle (Josh. 7:2-5). If we can for a moment I want us to go back to Joshua 7:2-5. You will remember that these verses recall the arrogance of the nation after defeating the people of Jericho. They presumed that when they came upon the city of Ai they would easily take the city and that God would fight for them so they really didn’t need his instructions. Their presumption failed to accept that they were really at war and that they were going to have to fight real battles. They simply failed to believe that there was a battle they were going to have to fight.

In 1775 as the War of Independence was unfolding, British General James Grant boasted to the House of Commons that "with 5,000 British regulars he could march from one end of the American continent to the other" ("1776," p. 6, David McCullough). The Americans made similar boasts toward the British. Soldiers have done the same throughout history. However, the blood of battle often silences the boasts of arrogance.

As Christians we are often guilty of the same sense of arrogance and pride. We don’t really believe that there are spiritual forces at work around us. In Romans 8:37-38 Paul lists the things that are out there that can try to separate us from Christ and his love: death, life, angels, demons, past present, powers, height, depth and any created thing. All of these things work against us and seek our destruction and ruin. Failure to believe we are under attack will determine our effectiveness as a Christian in the battles that we face.

In August of 1776, the British had the Americans bottled up in New York at what was then called Brooklyn Heights. General Washington expected an attack on three different fronts. A fourth was a little road that he was certain the British wouldn’t use. As the battle began, the place Washington assumed they would not attack was the very place they did attack. Even when Washington was sent message after message, he still couldn’t believe the real attack was coming there. His denial resulted in a crushing defeat and his barely escaping with his life.

The battles we don’t believe are real are the ones that will surely destroy us the worst! If we have any hope of winning life’s battles, it starts with believing the battle is real! If that is true, then as Christians we must always be in a place of readiness because we never know when the battles are going to come. Yet, if we never believe we are in the battle, then we are set for defeat.

Once we believe the battle is real we have to be willing to ask God for help (Josh. 8:1). It is clear that Joshua and the people are humbled by the defeat they have experienced. Joshua has moved from blaming God for the failure and has accepted responsibility. While the text doesn’t say it, you get the impression that Joshua was not about to make the same mistake twice so he goes to God and ask for help. What was missing in the first battle was a connection with God. What was certain in the second battle was a connection with God.

God’s words to Joshua in verse one are similar to what he has said before. Remember in chapter one how God repeatedly sought to encourage Joshua. You get the impression that Joshua struggled alone much of the time. In Joshua 5:13 it is when he is alone before the battle of Jericho that the angel of the Lord supports him. In Joshua 7:10 God tells Joshua to "get up" from lying down on his face before God. It just reminds me that a lot of the times that we are in the battles of life alone or feel we are alone. It is when we are alone or feel alone that the darkness and discouragement are greater and we feel totally helpless. Yet it is in that place of desperation that we are most open to asking God for his help!

Last month on NPR they aired a story of how one particular National Guard unit from Washington State deployed in Iraq was being supplied with equipment from one of the guardsman’s fathers. The unit uses the Humvee but needed a ring mount for a 50-caliber machine gun that would let the gunmen fire in a 360º circle. The army only issues one type for the Humvee that could be fired from a window, which was inadequate and dangerous. Specialist David Russell told his Captain Mike Patranz that he believed his father, a welder, back in Washington could supply what they needed. The father, Dave Russell, immediately went to work to build what the son needed and shipped it to his son. The mount was so effective that he built 45 more for the unit and now over 160 are in use. The Pentagon is looking into ordering some for the rest of its Humvees. (www.npr.org, Morning Edition, May 17)

Just like God, the father had all the son needed—he just had to ask! Paul said in Romans 8:26, " And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." We may or may not know what we need but God does. All he is waiting for is our being willing to ask him for the help. He doesn’t care how we pray or at what point we pray but that we pray for his help in the battle is absolutely crucial.

Winning life’s battles begins with believing the battle is real, asking God for help but it also requires our trusting God’s strength for the battle. (Josh. 8:1-3). In response to Joshua’s seeking God assures that the victory is his. He says, " Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the entire army and attack Ai, for I have given to you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." (Josh. 8:1) As far as God was concerned the battle was over. What was needed now was for Joshua and the Hebrews to believe in the promises God was giving them. They were to have faith in his words.

There is always a link between faith and victory in life’s battles. How? Well, it comes by our understanding the dimensions of faith. Faith involves first a relationship with a God who is trustworthy—He can be trusted. That faith, though, is reinforced by words—God’s words—that are found in the Bible. However, for faith to fully be faith it must act and that involves obedience.

I’m sure that there were some who when Joshua repeated what God had said and the strategy that God had given them responded, "How’s that going to work? Don’t you remember the last time we went against that city? What’s all this "ambush" business anyway? We’ve never done it this way before?" Yet, somewhere between verse two and verse three the people decided God was trustworthy, his words were true and they would obey. That, my friends, is where the victory comes for every one of us.

While touring the D-Day Museum one of the exhibits contained the personal contents of different soldiers who were in the D-Day invasion. One soldier carried with him a printed statement of purpose and encouragement from General Dwight Eisenhower. It had been folded and stuck inside his helmet. One sentence said, " I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory." (The American Heritage Picture History of World War II, p.496) All it was was words yet this soldier believed Eisenhower could be trusted, that his words were true and it was his job to obey orders. That is faith. To overcome life’s battles, our faith possesses all of these characteristics.

Faith, though, is not the victory. Nor is victory the faith. But they are connected. Lauren King wrote, "They are related, and there is never victory without faith, for faith is the means to victory. But the place and time of faith is separate from that of victory. Faith must come before victory. And when victory is assured, when the results are in and certain, then faith is no longer needed. Faith’s work has been done…[Faith] is with us in our human condition until the final obtainment, the final victory. Faith remains our necessary resort, our stay and help, not in the day of triumph,…but in the struggle and dust and dimness of our battle."

So many of our battles are tests of faith—not a test to see who wins the battle, not a test to determine if we will be victorious, but a test to see if we will give the battle to God. The question we have to ask ourselves in the heat of our own battles is this, "Is there any struggle I face for which God will not supply the strength?" It may be that the only promise he gives is the grace to endure the battle. He may say to us as he told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (II Cor. 12:9). It would be those words that Paul believed and he received strength in his greatest weaknesses. We, as well, are to trust God’s promise of strength for the battle.

So there you are believing the battle is real, asking God for help and trusting his promise of strength. There’s only one thing left—you have to face the battle now! (Josh. 8:3). In Joshua 8:3, Joshua leads 30,000 fighting men out from the camp to face their enemy. They do exactly as God had instructed them and the rest of the chapter describes the victory that resulted. The victory was so complete that verse 28 says, "So Ai became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day."

There comes a time for every one of us when we have to stop putting off the conflict and face the fight we know is waiting. Faith is never passive. Perhaps the ultimate test of one’s faith is facing the battle. Contrary to what some people presume, the words Christian and coward are not synonymous. Never have believers been instructed to retreat from life’s battles. According to the New Testament, God provides believers with a protective armor for facing the battles of life, and interestingly, he made no provisions for the back.

It is never in God’s will for us to run from the battles of life, or difficult situations, or problems. If we choose to run, and many people do, the battle will simply be postponed to a later day in the journey. It may have a different look, but it will be the same fight. Why? Because God wants to teach us that he is sufficient for any battle. He wants us to learn that. We can save ourselves a lot of aggravation by standing firm and waiting in God’s power. Have you noticed that God marshals great power to the side of the individual that stands face-to-face and toe-to-toe with those who oppose them? God can turn tragedy into triumph, defeat into victory, and calamity into conquest when we face the battle. I don’t know what battle you have been putting off or running from but you need to know that wishing won’t change a thing! The only path to victory is by facing the battle – now!

This past Monday our nation remembered the 61^st anniversary of the D-Day invasion. For some here this morning the significance of a 61 year old battle is lost because you are unaware of how perilous the times were and what was at stake for our world should the invasion of Europe have failed. On June 6, 1994, the 50^th anniversary of D-Day was remembered with great attention. All the major television networks ran anniversary programs that included interviews with aging veterans.

One of the programs paired two contrasting interviews back to back. The first interview was a GI who had landed on Omaha Beach. He recalled horrors that sounded like scenes from Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning movie Saving Private Ryan. The aging veteran recalled looking around at the bloody casualties surrounding him and concluding, "We’re going to lose!"

The next interview was with a U.S. Army Air Corps reconnaissance pilot who had flown over the whole battle area. He viewed the carnage on the beaches and hills, but he also witnessed the successes of the GI’s, the penetration by the paratroopers, and the effectiveness of the aerial bombardment. He looked at everything that was happening and concluded, "We’re going to win!" (Leith Anderson, Leadership That Works, Minneapolis, Bethany House, 1999, pp. 164-165).

What is the battle you are facing today? It may seem to you that with all you have been through and the way things are going that you are going to lose. But there is another view, another perspective, God’s view of the battlefield that says, "You are going to win!"

As the prophet Isaiah said, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you" (Isa. 43:1-2).

Do you want to win the battle you face in your life? It won’t go away but it must be faced with God’s strategy! With it you can win life’s battles!

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org