He Trains our Hands for Battle

[Christsfreeservant]

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock,​

who trains my hands for war,​

and my fingers for battle;​

he is my steadfast love and my fortress,​

my stronghold and my deliverer,​

my shield and he in whom I take refuge,​

who subdues peoples under me.” (Psalms 144:1-2 ESV)​

I used to believe that humans had power over me that God could do nothing about. Why did I think that way? Because I grew up under the authority of the worst kind of abuser, my father, and God did not rescue me physically from his abuse. So I saw God as my comforter, and I went to him in prayer all the time, and he did comfort me in my suffering, but subconsciously I believed God did not have the power to rescue me physically from my persecutor. I even said to him once, “But God, you don’t understand!!”

And so throughout my life, when I would face persecution after persecution, mainly from pastors of “churches,” or from others who professed faith in Jesus Christ, although I endured much, and I persevered much, I had my breaking points, too, where the weight of it all got to be more than my emotions could handle. And this is because I did not fully comprehend the sovereignty of God over my life nor what he was trying to teach me through these persecutions and false accusations and personal rejections.

But after getting beat down time after time after time, the Lord finally got through to me the understanding of his sovereignty over my life, and that these situations that I kept coming up against were for my good, in reality, for the Lord was indeed training my hands for war. And it reminded me of his words to Jeremiah, “Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them” (Jeremiah 1:17). For the Lord was preparing Jeremiah for a ministry where he would be hated and opposed, but the Lord would be his strength.

So, depending upon God’s calling on our lives, he may take us through some serious trials and tribulations in order to train our hands for spiritual warfare. For I can attest to the fact that if you are someone who is following the Lord wholeheartedly, as the Scriptures teach we all must do, and if you are out there on the front lines sharing the full gospel (the whole counsel of God) with the people, and not the altered version that so many are teaching these days, and if you are refuting the lies of the enemy, you will be opposed.

But, if we are indeed following the Lord with our lives, and if we are trusting in his sovereignty over our lives, believing that the things he allows to come into our lives are in preparation of our hands for spiritual warfare, then we can be those who put our trust and our hope in the Lord despite our circumstances, and despite all opposing forces coming against us. And we can trust him to deliver us through our circumstances even if he doesn’t deliver us out of all of them. For we can take refuge in him.

“I will sing a new song to you, O God;​

upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,​

who gives victory to kings,​

who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.​

Rescue me and deliver me​

from the hand of foreigners,​

whose mouths speak lies​

and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” (Psalms 144:9-11 ESV)​

But there is an upside to all of this. When we learn to understand and to accept God’s complete sovereignty over our lives, and that what he allows in our lives is, although painful, for our ultimate good, then we can sing a new song unto the Lord and in praise and worship of him. For now we have a different perspective than we had before. And now we have a much clearer understanding of his will and purpose for our lives, and for why all those bad things happened to us. He was/is training our hands for spiritual warfare.

And when we get to this place of understanding and acceptance of our trials and our tribulations and their purpose in our lives, it will also give us a new freedom and a new sense of purpose for why God created us, and for what purpose we exist, and of how all those painful circumstances fit in with his plan and his purpose for our lives. And from the Lord and from that understanding of purpose we can draw much strength and determination to keep moving forward with God in his power and strength and wisdom.

And the Lord may open wide all sorts of new opportunities for us that we may not have ever even imagined. I know he did that for me. He took me out of these market-driven and flesh-driven “churches” (businesses of men), and he placed me on the internet (my mission field) where I have been able to serve the Lord in the way he intended for me even from before he created me in my mother’s womb. And he has me writing out what he teaches me from my times with him daily in his word and posting these on the internet.

And these writings, but not due to anything I am doing, are going to people all throughout the world in multiple nations. All I do is write what the Lord teaches me and then I post these writings on the internet on multiple sites and then the Lord takes these where he wants them to go. And over the years he has added on songs and poems and memes and video talks, too, which then expands the ministry to which he has called me as it is reaching people with the gospel via multiple platforms. To God be all the glory!!

So, the encouragement for today is to look past the trials and the tribulations you are presently facing, and look to God, and seek his face, and see what he has for you. For none of what you are going through escapes his notice, and it all serves a purpose when we learn to respond to our circumstances with the understanding that all this is ultimately for our good. And God will bring good out of these trials if we will let him, and if we will not be consumed by the trials to where we can’t see God and his working.

Yes, we are still going to be persecuted if we are truly following the Lord with our lives, so this is not a promise that now life will be easier for us. In fact, it will probably be much harder, which is why we needed a history of abuse and persecutions in order to prepare us for worse to come. So if we can keep that perspective, it will help us to stay strong through the persecutions that are yet ahead. And we will be able to set our faces like flint (Isaiah 50:7) and not cave to opposition or to temptations to retreat.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

I Will Call Upon the Lord

Words and music by Michael O'Shields

I will call upon the Lord
Who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies
The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock
And let the God of my salvation be exalted

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