"But we thank God for giving us the victory as conquerors through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One." –1 Corinthians 15:57 (TPT)
Have you ever had a day where everything felt like an uphill battle? Where everything seemed to keep going wrong? I know I have. Normally it starts when I sleep through my alarm, spill my coffee, forget something important, and so on. Those are the worst kinds of days.
There are often spiritual seasons that feel like this too. Seasons when we feel like we are constantly up against some kind of obstacle- be it habitual sin, brokenness from the past, or a spiritual attack. Everything feels too big. We are tired of fighting, and we’re ready to give in and surrender.
I think the Israelites were at this point too in 1 Samuel 17. The giant Goliath had just challenged them to fight, jeering at them and threatening to enslave them once more. "
Send me a man who will fight me!” (1 Sam.17:10). He is saying, "
You have one chance to defeat me!" But, I love how God steps into this story. He defies our expectations, sending a gentle, humble shepherd to claim the victory, rather than a valiant soldier. In this, we see the salvation story prophetically portrayed. We see a picture of Jesus stepping in to defend His people against the enemy, echoing the cross. What looked like an unexpected end brought the greatest victory of all time.
Can I remind you of something else unexpected today? The battle isn’t yours to fight. It never has been and never will be. He defeated sin for us. You don’t have to grapple and wrestle for the victory today, it’s already yours (Deut. 20:4). Stop taking it into your own hands and put it back into His. He is holding you (Isa. 41:10) and He is fighting for you (Ex.14:14), all you need to do is surrender everything back to Him.
There is something powerful about reading Scripture over ourselves. So today, whatever the battle is, declare Psalm 91 over yourself— you are resting in the shadow of the Almighty, and He is your defender and protector.
Steph McGown