“3 So Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ 4 So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.” ~ 1 Samuel 7:3-4
If we continue reading, we’ll find that the Israelites assembled at Mizpah. There they gave an offering, fasted, and confessed their sin. They then denounced all foreign gods and served the LORD only. When the Philistines heard about it, they marched out against Israel to fight them. This is a good example of what happens in the spiritual.
As long as we’re not serving God, we are alright, but as soon as the enemy hears we have assembled ourselves in order to serve God only, he goes on the offense. He will assemble all the forces of darkness to war against us, and there is where we become overwhelmed and lose heart. We begin to believe that the struggle is not worth it.
But my friends, I’m here to let you know it will be worth it. Be encouraged because if we continue reading, we’ll see God came to their aid and delivered them out of the hands of the enemy, and He will do it for us also. So don’t give up, but instead fight harder.
O LORD our God, protector of all that is true and right, defender of the weak and the lifter of heavy burdens. We cry out to You today for mercy. O LORD that You would look and see, that You would listen and hear, that You would ride on the wings of the dawn in pursuit of our enemy. As we seek You today, bring about a great deliverance on our behalf.
In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.