40 Days with Moses 2025 Year of Exposure Day 18: We must learn to trust the Lord to bring us the victory.

“Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 13:17-18 NKJV

The Battle of Milvian Bridge took place between Roman Co-Emperors Constantine and Maxentius (October 28, 312). Constantine’s victory in this battle ultimately led him to total victory over the other co-emperors of Rome, putting an end to the Tetrarchy (Rome with four emperors). The extremely important point about this victory is that it came after Constantine and his men saw the sign of the cross in the sky, accompanied with a message to Constantine indicating that he should fight under this sign.

Constantine took this message to heart and had the first two Greek letters of Christ’s name put on all the battle gear. This incident also marks the beginning of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity and his making Christianity the favored religion of Rome.

King David learned early in his life that odds don’t matter. Indeed, preparation, or even plans, are not the ultimate determining factor of victory. He found that what really determines the outcome, is whether the Lord is with you or not.

When volunteering to fight Goliath, faced with Saul’s doubt of his ability to prevail, David responds with this:

“But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”

1 Samuel‬ ‭17‬:‭34‬-‭37‬ NLT

Then, when standing before a mocking Goliath, David boldly proclaims:

David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17‬:‭45‬-‭46‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Yes, as he declares elsewhere, David had learned to trust in the name of the Lord!

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭20:7-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

An examination of the Bible’s doers of great exploits, will reveal that they were able to do great things, even endure great pressures, because they learned to trust in the Lord.

The Apostle Paul said something very interesting in regards to the great persecution and resistance he had been facing in Asia:

“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭1:8-9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Indeed, Paul is saying that these things came to pass so that they could learn to fully trust in the Lord to bring them through whatever they faced. After all, isn’t the “God who raises the dead,” well able to help in the time of our need?

Today we find Moses taking a circuitous route out of Egypt to keep the multitude from facing a battle too soon in their journey.

You see, the Lord instructed him to do so, knowing that the people had not yet learned to put their trust fully in Him. As such, they might panic when facing the Philistines. But as we will find out, some of them eventually did learn to trust the Lord for the victory, making all the difference for them, making them doers of great things.

Just before Moses’ death he would reflect back on this period of time with these words:

“When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.””

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭20:1-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

For today let us discover what Moses discovered:

We must learn to trust the Lord to bring us the victory.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!