By Toni Ford
There is a great story in Chapter 13 of 2 Chronicles about two kings, Jeroboam and Abijah. King Jeroboam had far more resources and an army with 800,000 troops compared to King Abijah’s army of 400,000 troops. When looking at this with the natural eye, one would say that King Jeroboam was the greater and more powerful king. In 2 Chronicles 13, however, we find just the opposite is true. King Abijah loved the Lord his God and under-stood what principles and what ammunition was needed to fight in a battle and be victorious. As a result, Abijah was the more powerful king because he knew how to fight with the real King by his side!
King Abijah recognized that these principles were needed in order to be victorious in battle:
Recall God’s promises. When the two armies arrived in the hill country for battle, Abijah stood on a mountain and shouted the following words to Jeroboam and his army: “Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” (2 Chronicles 13:5 NIV version). Abijah was reminding Jeroboam of who God is and His promises to David from long ago. The question for you and me is when we are faced with a difficult battle, are we using the Word of God and His promises to remind ourselves and our enemies who He really is and His promises to us?
Set your heart on God. In Verse 10, Abijah tells Jeroboam, “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him.” Regardless of how vast Jeroboam’s troops looked as Abijah stood on that mountain and looked across the valley, he was not going to forsake the Lord his God.Whether we are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a battle, we must keep our eyes on the Lord and not the circumstances surrounding us in order to be victorious.
Make God your leader. Abijah makes another statement to Jeroboam in Verse 12 when He tells him, “God is with us; he is our leader.” Short and simple words, but oh, so powerful! What would happen if we said this to the battles we face? There might be many things we don’t know, but the one thing we can count on is that our God is with us and will lead us through our battles!
Rely on God alone. While Abijah was talking, Jeroboam was sending his troops to the back side of the city to attack with the hope catching Abijah and his army off guard. As soon as they realized that they were being attacked from both the front and the rear, Scripture tells us in Verse 14 that, “They cried out to the Lord.” When they did this, the Lord caused confusion among Jeroboam and his troops, who tried to run but God delivered them into Abijah’s hands. Notice how the very first thing Abijah did when he was being attacked on all sides was to cry out to the Lord. What is the very first thing we do when faced with a battle?
My prayer for each of us this week is that we would use these weapons and these principles when fighting our battles in life, all the while knowing that the real King is fighting alongside us, because He is for us. You are a victorious warrior!
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