Trusting God's Presence in Our Spiritual Battles

I've said it before and I will continue to say it – if singing like that doesn't set you on fire, your wood is wet. Oh, are you packed yet? Think about that for a moment because it's important that we understand today what that's going to mean. And I say that with all sincerity - are you packed yet?

Let's pray.

Father, it thrills our souls to sing those songs of praise. And Father, we can't wait to get home to sing them with your visible presence. But we know you're here and we sing those songs in glory and praise of your name. Thank you, Father, that even though the song melody is pleasing to our ears, the words mean so much. Help us to always remember that, Father. And Father, may we seek out and search the plans of your heart and make them the plans of ours. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.

"To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All persons' ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster. The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. Through love and faithfulness, sin is atoned for; when the Lord takes pleasure in anyone's way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them. Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice. In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."

Amen.

Michael W. Smith wrote a book called "Old Enough to Know" and it relates a story that he once heard. And I want to share it with you this morning.

It seems that a man named Ken was on an airplane one morning at 6 a.m. from some midwestern city to fly to New York City. He sat down by the window seat that he had purchased, and he was joined by a man and a woman. The man was in a tuxedo and the woman was in an evening dress, a bright red sequined evening dress.

Now, Ken didn't know what to make of that. So, as they sat down, they exchanged pleasantries and he said, "You folks must be going somewhere special." The woman, Jennifer, replied, "We sure are. We won a three-day trip to the Bahamas last night." They told the story of how they were at a restaurant for a social function and in a blind auction, they won the auction for this trip. But they were told that if they bid on this in their silent auction and they win, they have to leave right then. So, they thought they couldn't possibly win and didn't pack anything. The trip came with an empty suitcase.

Bill stated, "I guess we'll have to wear these clothes for the next few days. We don't have any money. We won't be able to buy anything when we get there. And all we have is an empty suitcase and the clothes on our back." Here they were, no money, an empty suitcase, and laughing because they thought it was a big joke. We laugh too, don't you?

But as I read this thought, here's the real picture about how many people live from day to day on this empty suitcase principle. Are you packed yet? Think about it. If you don't think you're going to win, you don't make plans, no goals, no preparations. You don't have anything packed and likely you'll never accomplish the things that God would want you to accomplish.

We have to ask the question, why? Because you don't think you can win, so you just don't try. I've been there. Jack, I thought you were raising your hands. Wow, he's going to testify too. I've been there.

But let me tell you another story – a story of a group of people that had some really big challenges, bigger than anybody had ever faced at that time. And because of their relationship with God, they thought that they could win.

After the Israelites crossed the Jordan under the leadership of Joshua to conquer the land that God told them would be theirs, they immediately confronted the biggest obstacle they would ever face on their journey. And they were going to be victorious. God had already promised them this. And they started with the most difficult place, as though it were a way of saying if we can do this, then there's no end to what we can do.

And they set their sights on following God's plan on the city of Jericho – a city with great walls that were considered impregnable. And surely, there was no way that this vagabond group of people, this ragtag army of people who had been walking in the desert for the last 40 years, could conquer this great military power.

Especially, it would seem senseless to execute the battle and plan the battle the way that they did – walking around the city every day, over and over again, until that one day, walking in silence. And that one day changed everything.

On the seventh day, Joshua told the people to walk around the city seven times, blow horns, yell really loud, and crack some pots together. And so they did. And when they did this, the walls of Jericho fell. And by the way, they didn't fall out, they fell in.

What was different about that last time? The people came to that task knowing and believing with all of their hearts that they could win. They had no doubt in their minds that they could win. Their bags were packed. They were ready to do the will of God. They were ready to trust what they could not see but yet believed was going to happen. And they were ready to accept it.

In Joshua chapter 5, beginning in verse 13, it says, "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to the man and asked, 'Are you for us or for our enemies?' 'Neither,' he replied, 'but as the commander of the Lord's army, I have now come.'"

Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so – holy ground. His predecessor Moses had stood on holy ground and had been given that same confirmation to take off his shoes.

For when we come upon holy ground in the presence of God, we don't come with empty suitcases. We need to be planting and packing because the Lord is going to keep His word. We need to make plans in life – plans based on prayerful consideration of God.

There's something about holy people, about relying totally on God, that holy people will, in their lives, place themselves in God's care without question. No, we question all the time. Without doubt? No, we doubt all the time. It's not a matter of questioning or doubting. It's a matter of do we have the faith of God? Do we have our faith in God that He will do what He has told us He will do? See, it's not about us. It's about God.

God made the decision, God made the statement, "I will take care of you." And so when Joshua asked this guy with the sword, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" I don't think he was just asking to be asking. I think he understood that this is a special situation and I've got to find out which side this guy's on. He says, "I'm not on either side. But God's in control. You need to remember that. And the place that you're standing is holy ground. Take off your shoes."

A little boy was coming into the church worship assembly after Bible class one Sunday, and he was carrying his shoes. He walked to his seat, sat down, and his mother said, "Why are your shoes off?" He said, "Well, the teacher said that we were going in to worship God and He's going to be there and we're going to be in His presence. That's holy ground." So, he took off his shoes.

I don't think God wants us to do that. That's not the point that He's trying to make or that I'm trying to make. But folks, when we come together, He's here. And He is with us and for us. And I'm going to tell you something – no matter what battle we're fighting, God's going to win. It doesn't matter. You say, well, in every battle, there are people who get hurt. Absolutely. Have you ever been hurt as a child of God? Most of us have. Don't worry. Because see, it's not about the battles that we fight here. It's about the battles we fight in here. It's about the battles that we fight against the spiritual realm, not just the battles here in this world.

This world fights us all the time. In a spiritual way. But we don't have to worry about that. God will take care of that. He's told us that. And we need to be making plans God's way.

We need to be doing things God's way. You see, how do we do that? Well, you know, we've got to quit worrying about what's happening in our world now. We need to be concerned, but we don't need to worry. Because what's going on in our world doesn't really matter to us. God put them in place. God allows everything to happen that is happening. And one of these days, we're going to go home.

It doesn't matter what side of each issue you're on. You better be on God's side. We need to make plans God's way.

God doesn't just look at the plans we make, but He looks at the motive behind them. In Proverbs 16:2, it says, "All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord." God doesn't just look at what we say; He looks at the reason we say them.

I like the way the Living Bible puts it. It says this – it's a thought translation, but it puts it this way: "We can always prove that we're right, but is the Lord convinced?" We can prove we're right to a lot of people, but is the Lord convinced? He's the one that we need to be concerned about.

Jim Rohn said, "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." Amen. Yeah, that's the way we do it. It's our human nature.

When we start believing our desires are God's instead of God's desires from God's desires, we need to make God's plans our plans. What do you mean? Sometimes we think that what we're desiring is what God wants us to desire, but it's based on our desires and not God's. We need to put ourselves in a place where we can say, "God, what are your desires? What is it that you want in my life?"

Ask God to let you see the plans that He has for you in your life. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. What do you want me to do with my life?

God, what do you want me to do with my life? God, what do you want me to do with my spiritual family? Sometimes churches work themselves to death trying to accomplish some dream or some plan that was theirs from the start, that was never God's. We have to be careful about that. It only becomes the plan of God when we look and ask God what He's wanting us to do. And it's He, God, that gets the credit. It only works when His plans become our plans.

And how do we do that? We have to be committed to a God who's absolutely committed to you. Can you imagine what we could do if we could just get this concept in our minds? If we could be that committed to God? Do you realize what we could do in this community, in this world?

Look what 12 men did. They've influenced the whole world in three years of working together and then going out and sharing the Gospel that went everywhere. Check out Colossians where Paul writes that the Gospel had been carried to every nation, every creature under heaven.

I know sometimes it seems overwhelming for us to do that. I mean, you may think in your heart that it's impossible for your life to get back or ever become normal again in God's eyes. I understand that. You may think in your heart that it's impossible for your life to be normal, but not only normal, but in line with what God wants because things are so hectic in my life.

I mean, God, you don't realize how hard it is to come from a broken home. God, you don't know how hard it is to have parents that don't love each other. God, you don't know how hard it is to have a husband that doesn't care about me or a wife that doesn't care about me. God, you don't know what it's like not to have a son or a daughter that cares about us or that listens to us.

Get over yourself. You're not the only pebble on the beach. God said you can overcome all things through him. Isn't that right? "I become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some." Paul said that. Means everybody.

Now, don't get me wrong. I feel sorry for you. I come from a broken home. I know what that's like. I've come from situations in my life like these that I've described. That's not the end of life. The beautiful part is that if we'll put God in His place, He will forever be there for us, no matter what.

Wow. So let me give you a piece of advice – don't drink Satan's Kool-Aid. Because Satan says, "Well, if I don't like that, I don't have to put up with it. Why does God not love me? I should be happy. I should have all the things that I want. Things should be fine. I shouldn't have to worry about life."

It's not life that we need to worry about, folks. What we need to worry about is ourselves in God's presence. He's here. He sees our hearts. He knows what we're concerned about. And He's wanting us to be concerned about going to be with Him. That's it.

How do we do that as children of God? By loving each other and loving God. He tells us that over and over again. "Commit everything you do to the Lord and trust Him, and He will help you."

Trusting Him, however, is the hard part because we have to take into consideration the fact that we have to know His Word to understand what we're committing to. And so many times, we think we've got enough once we become His children to be His now.

Folks, I have four children. Everyone is different, daylight and dark. We're all different. But there's one thing they cannot deny – they came from me. And there's one thing as children of God that we cannot deny, and that's that we came from Him. And as we come from Him, then we have to trust Him. We have to put Him first.

We don't fall back on ourselves thinking that we have to get it done all by ourselves. We don't need to have anxiety about our walk with God. I mean, that's indicative of our doubt, and it's all mixed up together with everything that we are keeping in our suitcase.

Oh, back to the suitcase. How many of us are packed and ready to go where God wants us to go? Or are we packed and ready to go where we want to go? Some of us don't even know where we've applied!

How are we doing when God's plan becomes our plan? Do you trust God's plan? He's got a plan. We need to get God in our lives and understand that our purpose as His children is to live for Him and help others get to know Him, whether they're our brothers in Christ or those outside of Christ.

And when we get ready to do something impossible in our mind for God, we need to get ready because when we finally decide to give our lives to God and do what He wants to do, the suitcase is packed and God's going to pack it for you.

In Psalm 37, verse 5, it says, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this." Trust God's plan. That's all. That's the hard part. And when God's plan becomes our plan, the question is, what will we do?

We'll get it done. It's not a question of who's going to win. We know that God's going to win. It's not a question of who will win. The question is, will we walk our spiritual walk as God's children and winners of the quest of this life, with the reward being heaven?

Who brought down the walls? Was it walking around Jericho seven times that last day and then blowing the trumpets and cracking pots and yelling at the top of their voice that brought down the walls? No. See, the battles that we fight are not actually ours to fight. The battles we face are not really our battles. The battles we fight, our God brings down the walls of our life if we will trust Him.

And if your suitcases are packed, knowing where we are going, you're going to win. Your names will be pulled out of that hat, and you'll be packed and ready to go.

Folks, I'm going to promise you something – something that you may not think about, you may not believe, and some of us don't believe it, some of us need to believe it. Some of us say we believe it, but we don't have it in our heart. And that is that God still works, and He's working right now in your life.

So how do you know that you're here? I'm glad you're here, and it may be for a number of other reasons that you're here. You may be here visiting, and this is where the person that you're visiting is. You may be here because mom and dad are here. You may be here because this is where you think you need to be so that nobody will think ill of you.

Get over yourself. You're not that important. The only thing that makes us important is that we're children of God. The only thing that makes us important is that we belong together.

And don't get me wrong, folks. If you're not here, I get upset – not angry, upset – because you're not here. I want to be here. I want to be with you. I want to see your faces. I want to hug the necks of those that like to get hugged. I'll shake the hands of those that only want their hands shook. And I'll pray for those that don't want anything to do with me. If you don't want anything to do with me, that's okay. I love you anyway. I was praying for you before I got here.

If our suitcases are packed…