Stop...Listen...Proceed!

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"O God, You are my strength; I wait for You" (Psa 59:9)

It is only natural to run for shelter and refuge on the face of threat and danger. It's reflex action that's common to humankind. But in this era of swift and lethal weaponry, no place is absolutely safe unless God protects us. Because our times are in His hands and we are in His palms, we must learn to relax in any situation. The profitability of waiting on God when we are threatened and hounded is best explained in Isaiah 30:15,16, "The Sovereign Lord says: Only in returning to Me and waiting for Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength."

God's silence and slowness in acting on our behalf when we are under the severe attack of our enemies may be due to two reasons. Either God wants to strengthen us by delaying deliverance or He wants to sanctify us. Taking time to sit before God in self-examination is the only way to experience victory.

There may come times when friends and family folks may turn out to be our enemies. Prophet Micah tells us what we should do in such a situation: "Do not put your confidence in a companion...Your enemies will be right in your own family... I will look to the Lord; I will wait confidently for God to save me" (Mic 7:5-7).

The weapons of our warfare are not worldly. They are mighty through God to knock down the devil's strongholds. We don't wage war with human plans and methods (2 Cor 10:3,4). We sharpen our spiritual weapons in prayer and by waiting before God with perseverance (Eph 6:13-18). The Lord of the Armies is with us. We stand still and know that He is God! (Psa 46:9-11). Stop and listen to Him before you proceed!

In fighting the enemy, we must be more conscious of the orders of our Captain than our strength and experience. Even though David was a man of war, he had the habit of inquiring of the Lord whether to go against the enemy or not, and how to go about it. In the case of the Philistines, once the Lord commanded him to go, and next time He said, "No!" David surrendered his logical and reasoning powers to the Lord of the Armies and that was the secret of his victory (2 Sam 5:18-25).

Though the ills of earth may wound me,
And the storms of life confound me—
With His loving arms around me,
I'll go with Him all the way!
- (Fanny J. Crosby, 1823-1915)

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