Faith is the Victory

II Samuel 23:11-12

"And next to [Eleazar] was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory."



Do you ever find yourself in a battle in the middle of a lentil field? Probably not.

But you do fight a battle of faith every day and you'll often find yourself fighting alone. For the most part, we look for the easy way out. When it comes down to your decision to do right or wrong, flight always seems better than fight. At least, that's what Shammah's comrades thought. When they saw something threatening them, they ran. These men left Shammah behind to fight the battle. Shammah stood in the middle of the field and took down every Philistine that came at him by the strength of God.

In this story we look down on the men that ran, but how often do we do the same thing? We spend so much time preparing to fight, but when the time comes, we run. If we're scared or we're not sure what to do, the it seems the best choice  is to run away from it. But Shammah took his stand. Shammah knew that he was going to do the right thing, and he probably made that decision long before the Battle of the Lentil Plot. We need to know what we're going to do in a situation before it occurs. We need to know when we'll say yes & when we'll say no. We need to draw the line before someone tries to cross it. If we do this, we'll be prepared to take a stand for what's right & we won't have to hesitate or question it. And when Shammah chose to do the right thing, he didn't just do it halfway. He stood in the middle of a group of huge Philistine soldiers and killed every one of them. It was probably scary, difficult, and tiring, but he didn't stop until the job was finished. How did Shammah do this?

He relied on the strength of the Lord instead of his own. When we are like the other men who relied only on their own strength, we have every right to run. We can accomplish nothing apart from God. But when Shammah trusted in the all consuming power of God, he "worked a great victory." Shammah didn't just survive, he didn't just win a battle-  through God Shammah destroyed his enemies and gained a great victory.

When we're caught off guard in a lentil field (or anywhere else), it seems easy to run. But instead of running from our battles, let's fight for the name of God and in the name of God. Even when we are at our weakest point and we are all alone, the power of God is greater than any enemy, whether it be society, sin, or any other thing that is not of God. If we choose to take a stand and glorify him, we can overcome all things and achieve a great victory.