We began this week with the thought in mind that we should “fight for the little ones.” There have been times in my life when I would just as soon as thrown in the towel and given up – sometimes even to the point of giving up on life itself. I had no fight, no drive, no determination left – I had become weary with the trials that kept coming at me, and felt as if there was no hope for anything getting better. But I had been given something that few people in my generation had. I had not one, not two, not three children looking to me for their care and provision, I had eight children – who came here to this earth realm because of me, and no matter what was going on in my life – they were dependent upon me to care for them!
An awesome responsibility! That kind of responsibility alone would make some faint – but given that I had these children one at a time – carrying each one to full term – I had plenty of time to realize that they were my assignment – given by God to be His hands and feet and heart in their lives. One day I got so low – despair had overtaken me, sickness had invaded my body, my neighbor (who was my same age) had just died of cancer – the thought came to me, why not just give up – and then I thought of my vow to the Lord – the one where I promised that not one that I bore would live for the devil – and I thought- who will see that commitment through? Who will fight for them when they can’t fight for themself? Who would be willing to really stand in the gap for them, and make up the hedge? Who would be willing to intercede and pray for them – like I would. I told God that night, if you just let me live until morning, I promise I will make it – I will get better, I will keep my vow.
That was over twenty years ago! I’ve kept my commitment, and even though they are all grown – there are yet battles to be fought and won! Sometimes there are even battles where enemies have made a pact and come together to take one of my children out, such as we find in 2 Chronicles 20 where multiple nations had come together to fight against Jehoshaphat. In verse (3) we see that:
“Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.”
Jehoshaphat was not strong and mighty at this moment, he was terrified, but he knew the first thing to do was to call the people together to a time of fasting. In verse 4 we find that they came together from all the towns of Judah to seek the Lord’s help.
When they assembled, Jehoshaphat reminded God of His promises and then:
“As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph’.”
Tomorrow – we’ll see the battle strategy they came up with…
God Bless You,
Maria
Wow. Thanks Maria for this post. I am fighting spiritual warfare right now and have been fasting and praying this week. I did get an answer to prayer already so the prayers are being answered. My scripture that the Lord gave me for this week is “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, of love and of a sound mind”