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Faint, Yet PursuingBy
Patricia Dailey, | |
And Gideon
came to three
hundred loaves
of bread unto the people
that for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Judges 8:4,5 |
| Gideon had been raised up to defeat the Midianites.
He’d had about 32,000 in his army: but
the Lord whittled them down until they were just 300 men left. His army was no longer big, yet they did
have a mighty God behind them. They had
just what they needed in God. Gideon had already taken two of the Midianite
princes, and was after two others. And
we see here that by this time he and his men were faint. Yes, they were faint – yet they were pursuing.
Now, this was a natural warfare, but we want
to think about fighting the spiritual battles that we face. We can become faint – and yet, we can continue
to pursue on. It’s by the grace of God
that we continue pursuing. STRENGTH IN TIMES OF WEAKNESS Proverbs 24:5,6 & 10 A wise man is strong; yea,
a man of knowledge increaseth strength. For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war:
and in multitude of counsellors there is safety. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength
is small. Our strength is not measured by the good times, but is measured by
the bad times. When we face the battles
and trials of this life, then we will see just how strong we really are. Many times we think we are going to be overtaken by the problems
and the pressures that come our way: but the Lord has promised not to put upon
us more than we can bear. I Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such
as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it. Sometimes we think we can’t possibly bear any more. Things can get pretty heavy. At times we think we’ll be swept away by the
trial: but thanks be to God, He is always there to give what we need to go on.
Faith believes God even when the circumstances deny His promises.
No matter what it looks like, no matter what
it feels like, we can still stand by faith, believing the Lord. We need to be drawing strength from God when going through bad times,
when going through times where we feel we can’t go on any further. Know that the Word of the Lord is true, and when
we go to the Scriptures we can draw strength from them. Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them
that have no might He increaseth strength. Here’s a promise that the Lord will give strength when we need it.
And we do need to be strengthened when
facing these battles. Now, everybody has their own battles and they have to rise up and
fight them themselves. Nobody else can
fight their battle for them – nobody, other than the Lord. Yes, the Lord is there to bring us out into victory: but, as far
as humans are concerned, there’s no human who can fight our battles for us. We have to rise up ourselves and fight those
battles in the power of the Lord. WAIT ON THE LORD So we see in Isaiah 40 where the Lord increases our strength: and
we do need our strength increased when facing hard times. Isaiah 40:30,31 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. This is something we have to do, but we don’t always take the time
to do. If we would just take the time to
wait upon the Lord, He has said that He will renew our strength. When trials and problems come our way, and sorrows
and grief, we need to look to the Lord for strength – for He has promised to give
power to the faint. These are beautiful promises to anyone who
is facing trials and battles. Now, when those trials and battles are over,
don’t think you will never face another one – for as long as you live, you’ll
have trial after trial after trial. At times, you’ll feel like a load has been dropped
right on you: but thanks be to God, there’s One who cares. I Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon
Him; for He careth for you. I thank God that He cares for us, that He
understands what we’re going through. We
can cry out to God for help when there’s nobody else to turn to. Lord, I need your help. I need You, Lord. I need Your strength. Certainly, if we will wait on the Lord, getting
right in there and seeking the Lord – the answer is going to come. Victory will come. Help will come. Believe me, brother and sister, God’s Word
is true. Right in the midst of the battle,
we can be skipping around with joy in our hearts. We don’t have to be long–faced about our troubles.
Yes, there are some things in life that hurt.
We’re bound to be hurt at times. But, one thing we must learn: and that is to
keep our eyes on Jesus, and not on the circumstances. It’s very difficult if we take our eyes off
of Jesus and put them on the circumstances of this life. It won’t be long before we find ourselves sinking
in despair; sinking into despondency, depression. This is where a lot of people get very discouraged
over the battles and trials they face in this life. If they would only take God’s Word and wait
on the Lord, they’d find the Lord would give them just what they need to continue
on until the victory comes. Sometimes the way seems long and it becomes
very wearisome. Those are the hardest spiritual
battles one can face: when the battle is so long and you wonder, when
will it ever end? Don’t question why. Know that God knows why and it’s all in His hands.
He knows what He’s doing. Let Him have His way. Psalm 121:1–3 I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven
and earth. He will not suffer thy foot
to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. The Lord is not sleeping. He’s very much aware of what’s going on in our
lives, and He’s very much concerned. He
will not allow our foot to be moved. He
will keep our feet walking on with Jesus, as long as we keep our eyes on Him and
keep our faith in His Word. Sometimes in our spiritual battles it’s like
it never rains but it pours. It seems like
it pours day after day after day, with no let up. It seems like the battle gets pretty strong.
See II Chronicles 20 This chapter is a good lesson for us in learning
how to face the spiritual battles that come our way. This battle is about to take place – and we see
what Jehoshaphat does when he hears that these armies are on their way to fight.
II Chronicles 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and
set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all WHEN AFRAID, SEEK THE LORD Yes, Jehoshaphat feared: and, sometimes,
God’s people will fear because of the circumstances they find themselves in. I’m not going to say we won’t experience fear
sometimes: but we don’t have to. We need
to put our faith in God, knowing that all things work together for good to them
that love Him, and are the called according to His purpose – Rom 8:28. We should just take Him at His Word, knowing
that some good will come out of all that we are facing. We may not understand, we may not see any good
that could come out of the battle, but we do know that God has promised to work
good out of it. He knows the good that He wants to bring
out of it. He knows what the reason is.
We might not understand now. But when we come out of it and look back, we’ll
see what the Lord has done. And here we see that Jehoshaphat not only
feared, but he set himself to seek the Lord. He did the right thing, and that’s what we should
do. We should set ourselves to seek the
Lord. Seek Him for help, seek Him for what
we need. If we need added grace, need strength,
need help, need encouragement – whatever it might be – if we seek the Lord, we
will find that which we need. Jehoshaphat not only set himself to seek
the Lord, but he also proclaimed a fast in all of II Chronicles 20:4-6, 12 And And Jehoshaphat stood in the
congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new
court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of
the heathen? and in Thine hand is there
not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee? O our God, wilt Thou not judge
them? for we have no might against this
great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes
are upon Thee. So many times there are things we face where
we don’t know what to do. There are things
that happen to us where we absolutely don’t know what to do. I’m sure you all have had such experiences
where you really didn’t know what you needed to do. And, when we don’t know what to do, we should
call on God, looking to Him. We should
get the answer from God, looking to the hills from whence comes our help – knowing
that our help comes from the Lord. PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD It’s also important that we have all the
armor of God on in order to fight the adversary of our soul. Ephesians 6:10–13 Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand. When we are in a spiritual warfare, Satan
will come along with his lies. He will
try to get us to do something which God would be displeased with. So waiting on God is something that is very
important to all of us. Yes, waiting on
the Lord is so important. We should be
praying always, and not faint. We should be in the place of not giving up. It doesn’t matter how many times we’ve prayed
about something. Some feel you should just
pray once. But I’ll tell you, if you haven’t
got the victory yet – hang on, keep praying, keep standing on the Word of God.
God’s Word is true, and He will keep His
promises. It’s so important that when we don’t know
what to do we can open our Bible and find just that which we need to encourage
ourselves in the Lord. How many times has God shown you from His
Word exactly what to do in a given circumstance, in a given trial or battle, and
how to do it? OUR EYES ARE UPON THEE How important it is to keep our eyes on the
Lord. It’s so easy to get our eyes off
the Lord. Yes, it’s so very easy. And, when we do, then the circumstances, the
spiritual warfare, the battles and trials we face, are magnified. And, then, we find that fear steps in. This is what we have to be careful about, that
we don’t allow fear to grip hold of us. We want to keep our faith in tact, keeping
our faith in the promises of God. Keep
our eyes upon the Lord. Did God fail Jehoshaphat? When you read further in this chapter you find
they had a great victory. They won that
battle. God fought the battle right before
their eyes. Don’t think that God isn’t willing to fight
the battle for us. God will fight our battles.
He will help us through our battles. I
thank God that He does not leave us in times of spiritual warfare. I thank God that He’s right there with us,
just like He was with the three Hebrew boys when they were thrown into the fiery
furnace. They went in, and they came out:
but while they were in there, Jesus was in that furnace with them. He does not forsake us. Sometimes we might feel like we’ve been forsaken,
or forgotten by God. We might feel that
God does not care: but that’s not according to the Scriptures – because He does
care – see I Peter 5:7. Keep your eyes on Jesus in facing the battles.
Don’t open yourself to listen to the voice
of the adversary when he tries to discourage you, tries to get you to do something
contrary to God’s Word. Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with
thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help
thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. He doesn’t want us to fear. He wants us to trust. He says that perfect love casts out fear – see I John 4:18. This is a beautiful promise for us to hold on to. So, don’t be discouraged or be afraid – but
keep your faith in the Lord, knowing that He said He would never leave us nor
forsake us. He’s right there with us. No
matter what we might be going through, He is there. We can draw so much strength from God’s Word.
GET ROOTED IN GOD He will give us the strength to pursue to
the end. And we certainly need that strength
in this day and hour that we’re living in. Things are going to get rougher and rougher
and rougher. Things are going to get darker
and darker and darker. And we’re going
to have to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God if we’re going to stand.
We’re going to have to have a faith in
God and in His promises. This is what will
keep us in the hour of temptation. II Corinthians 12:7–9 And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. For this thing I besought
the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for
thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. God does give us grace in the time of trouble,
in the time of spiritual warfare. God gives us grace to help us go through all
these trying times that we might face. And when you come through, know there will
be another waiting. If you’re living for
the Lord – loving Him and serving Him with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength
– you’ll find you will have spiritual battles. You can go all the way to Sometimes, in times of great stress, pain,
grief, we feel very weak: but know that in our weakness, His strength is made
perfect. MIX FAITH WITH GOD’S PROMISES And I believe that though we might be tested
and tried, though we might have to go through something, God is not slack concerning
His promises. He will fulfill every promise,
when we put our faith in them. I don’t care what it looks like, what it
feels like: I believe God is a God of His Word and His promises are true. In order for those promises to be fulfilled,
though, we have to mix faith with them. Matthew 14:22–24 And straightway Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while
He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He
went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there
alone. But the ship was now in the
midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And, don’t we get tossed by all the waves
that beat against us? Sometimes it feels
like they are sweeping right over us. Matthew 14:25–29 And in the fourth watch of
the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the
sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying,
Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered Him and
said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship,
he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS You see, when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus
he had faith that he could walk on the water: but, when he began to look at the
storm, that’s where fear really came in. Matthew 14:30,31 But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore
didst thou doubt? When Peter saw the wind boisterous he was
afraid. He began to sink, and in his fear
he cried out, Lord, save me! This is what happens when you take your eyes
off Jesus. Despondency and depression come
in, and you begin to get overwhelmed. You need to keep your eyes on Jesus, keeping
your faith in tact. Believe that Jesus
is the answer to all your problems, to all of your troubles, to all of your trials,
to all of your sickness and disease, to all of your griefs and sorrows. Yes,
know that He is the answer. Matthew 14:32 And when they were come into
the ship, the wind ceased. So we can see that Peter had faith to step
out onto the water and walk towards Jesus. He was doing well, as long as he kept his eyes
on Jesus. He had faith: but when he began
to look around at the storm and saw the effects of the boisterous wind, he began
to sink. We can’t allow doubt to enter our heart –
doubting the promises, doubting that the Lord cares: doubt, doubt, doubt. There is no room in our life for doubt. It’s either faith or doubt. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, keep
our faith in His Word, continue to wait on Him, He will see us through. PRAY ONE FOR ANOTHER Now, not only did Jehoshaphat set himself
to seek the Lord – but the people of And isn’t it nice to know when you’re going
through a battle that there are those who are standing with you in prayer, seeking
God with you for the victory? It’s an encouragement in the storm to know that
others are concerned. When someone is going through a hard time,
they would be surprised to know whom God is using to really pray and intercede
on their behalf – someone whom God laid a burden on their heart to pray for you.
Maybe it’s someone near at hand or someone
on the other side of the world. Wherever – God can lay a burden on someone’s
heart to pray and intercede when another is facing a hard time, facing a hard
battle. I Corinthians 12:25,26 That there should be no schism
in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer,
all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice
with it. God would want us to have enough love and
concern for one another to hold each other up in prayer. That’s love. TRUST IN THE LORD FOREVER So, let’s thank God that He has promised
to strengthen us. We don’t have to fear,
we don’t have to be discouraged, we don’t have to wonder because of what it might
look like: God has promised to strengthen us, and He is a God of His Word. Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever:
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength |