Be Strong and Courageous: The Lord Fights For You

See for us, courage is ultimately not the absence of fear, but it's the fruit of remembrance. Because sometimes the the things on the outside of the walls don't change, but something shifts inside. And so we remember who God is. And I'm gonna ask you, what would it look like today for you to remember? To remember the prayers that God has answered in the past. To remember the times that God has carried you before. [00:57:27] (36 seconds)  #CourageIsRemembrance

See because fear has this way of narrowing our vision, but remembering widens it. See fear speaks to us and it magnifies the army, but when we remember what God has done, when we remember who he is, we get to see him more clearly. Clearly. The voice of fear, fear tells us that is a big problem that you can't figure out on your own. And yet the voice of remembering tells us, yeah, but my god is bigger. [00:56:22] (32 seconds)  #RememberToSeeClearly

And so the same God that stood with Israel and delivered them from the hands of the Assyrians is the same God who stood in our place between sin, death, and the power of the devil and came out victorious for us. So that the most important battle that we will ever fight has already been won for us in Christ. [00:58:59] (23 seconds)  #VictoryAlreadyWon

Right? That is what we remember. That is the firm foundation on which we stand. We are remembering the victory that has already been secured in Christ. And so when we find ourselves in these moments in which it feels like the army is encircling us, These moments that are too much for us to handle on our own. We recall, we remember these words that Paul gives us in Romans chapter eight that says, if God is for us, who can be against us? [00:59:22] (35 seconds)  #StandOnChristVictory

And then he says, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. He's drawing upon this covenantal language that God's people have seen God's hand time and time again. They've seen him act, and he's saying, now this is who's with us. Our God has an arm too, and his arm isn't temporary, but his arm is eternal and all powerful and almighty, and he's the one that fights with us. He is the one that is with us and is going to help us in this moment. [00:52:23] (33 seconds)  #GodsArmEternal

Remembering the God who is with us, the God who fights for us, the God who stood in your place on the cross and who now has given you the victory in faith. It's the God, the Lord your God who fights for you. And then you rest in his presence. You rest in his grace knowing, trusting that that you don't have all the answers and saying that's okay because I know that I'm not alone. I know that my God is with me and that my God fights for me. [01:01:51] (37 seconds)  #RestInGodsPresence

And he doesn't give them the strategy, he doesn't give them the game plan or more information, but he gives them perspective. Because he goes on to say this, be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him. For there is a greater power with us than with him. [00:50:58] (23 seconds)  #PerspectiveNotStrategy

And I wanna be clear that this is not a halftime pep talk. This isn't like the coach speaking to his team at halftime, hey guys, we're gonna get fired up for the second half and we're gonna go out and play better than we did in the first half. Now this is a lot deeper than that. The Hebrew literally means that Hezekiah spoke to their hearts, meaning he addressed their fears. He addressed the reality of the situation, and he's getting into their inner being. Right? The spot that ultimately where the fear is coming from, and he's reminding them of their identity. And so in this moment, at the beginning of the battle that's about to take place, he's speaking to the battle that is raging inside of their hearts. [00:50:13] (44 seconds)  #HezekiahSpokeToHearts