Then I will strike
your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right
hand. (Ezekiel 39:3; ESV)
When I was a
child, I loved playing sports, ice hockey in particular (in case you weren't
aware, I am from Canada). I wasn't very good, but that didn't stop me from
being out on the ice as much as possible. For some reason, there's an incident
that I remember as if it were yesterday. I don't recall most of the details,
including where or when it happened or with whom I was playing, but it was the
first time I encountered a very common tactic on the part of an opponent. I was
in possession of the puck and the other player wanted to take it from me. Up to
that time, in this kind of situation, I would have expected my opponent to
focus on the puck and try to pry it out of my control. But instead he slid the
blade of his stick under mine and knocked my stick in an upward motion, causing
my blade to rise off the ice, easily allowing him to take away the puck. I felt
so frustrated by the lack of control I sensed. It was as if I was disarmed. I
was rendered helpless.
According to
this week's Haftarah portion, this is how God sometimes handles his enemies. He
renders them powerless by disarming them. I don't know about you, but I prefer
it when God devastates them. In fact, I sometimes wish God would go back in
time and prevent the bad things in my life from happening at all. Really! When
I first experienced the hockey move above, I felt so ripped off, I wanted to
curse the experience out of existence. The problem is life doesn't work like
that. Instead God calls us to face challenges as we learn to trust him. Genuine
faith only occurs when our circumstances suggest that God is not in control
even though he is.
One reason
why we lose touch with God's power and presence when facing difficulty is that
we assume that if God is real, then he will deal with evil a certain way. But
God isn't limited by our expectations. We can't predict how he will handle
situations. But the more we are exposed to the whole breadth of Scripture and
how it reveals God's various tactics, the less surprised we will be when facing
difficulties.
As I think
about God striking the bows and arrows out the hands of his enemies as
described in this passage, I envision evil well-equipped and engaged in the
battle. Remember, in those days military conflicts were far more intimate than
what goes on today. Often you could smell your opponent's breath. The sound of
swords clanging in your ears. The mighty on both sides are falling dead at your
feet. At times God's people on their own don't have what it takes to defend
themselves. In this case Israel's enemies, for good reason, are confident of
victory. But then an unseen force knocks their weapons out of their hands,
rendering them helpless. Victory then comes easily and quickly.
Sometimes
God puts us in situations that look absolutely hopeless. Our problems are so
big and so far reaching. We are powerless to make any difference at all. But
then, at the last moment, God slips in, gives the problem a little knock and
completely changes the situation.
It's so
important not to lose heart when facing great difficulties. We need to entrust
ourselves to God continually, allowing him to resolve our challenges in his way
in his time.
However, in
order to have confidence that God will come through for us, we need to make
sure that we are on the right side of the battle. Perhaps you have been finding
yourself in a situation like the one I was describing at the beginning. You
think you are in control of your life, but your stick keeps getting knocked
away. Could it be that you are on the wrong team?
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