Day 25 with Moses: The Lord is a Warrior.

“The Lord is a man of war; The Lord is His name.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭15:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There’s something about a good fight that grabs people’s attention. In fact, some of the all time most popular movies have been war movies. The spelling out of a good guys, against all odds, winning over bad guys scenario, is ubiquitous. Now, some may wonder where this interest in war comes from. Some may even automatically say that it definitely comes out of the forces of darkness. But we shouldn’t be so quick to make that determination. I will explain; but first I will digress.

A few years back the Lord spoke to me and said “Janet, you’re always talking about being a warrior but you don’t want to fight.”

You see, I was a pastor over a women’s ministry for over 35 years. I never saw women’s ministry as being a different sort of ministry than that presented to men. I never focused on topics traditionally associated with ministering to women. For example, I assumed that women hear enough about their emotions. So—rather than approaching women as inferior creatures subject to their emotions and easily distracted by shiny objects—I have always approached women as being potential warriors. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in the fact that there are two genders and that the male gender is more suited to combat situations. But I wasn’t trying to prepare women to go out and fight Isis. Rather, I was trying to prepare women to become warriors in the spirit, warriors for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Yes, at times I got grief over my approach to women’s ministry; but the overwhelming response was the soaking in of the concept of the power in a woman’s spirit like water on a dry sponge.

Back to what the Lord said about my not wanting to fight:

I had grown tired in my spirit, tired of going against certain flows. I hadn’t realized that I had inwardly retreated from the firing line, but I had. So, the Lord called me to the frontline for active duty and away from my “desk job,” far from the fray.

Now back to the question of where our interest in fighting comes from.

Certainly, the interest in violence for violence sake, the fascination with bloodsport, is not from the Lord. But, the actual interest and ability for battle comes straight from our Lord.

“The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭42:13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Indeed, our Lord is mighty in battle. Not only that, He teaches us how to wage war.

“Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle—”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭144:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Yes, although the Lord is the Prince of Peace, He is also the Mighty God!

Today we find Moses expressing the greatness of God in battle. In fact, as he had prophesied to the people (Exodus 14:14), he had just seen the Lord destroy the armies of Egypt without the Israelites having to raise a hand, much less a sword.

Additionally, as we have noted many times, soon the Lord will fight again as all other authority bows to His sovereign rule.

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭19:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Many times we grow tired and want to retreat from the battle because we have been trying to fight in our own strength; or we have been distracted and drained by fighting battles the Lord never called us to fight.

We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us to our battleground and to train us for what we should do when we get there.

For today let us discover what Moses discovered:

The Lord is a Warrior.

#40dayswithmoses