I'm in the Lord's Army

    As a kid we sang a lot of songs and all of them required motions.  (See 'Sing, Sing A Song 7/9/19)  Today I’m singing “I’m in the Lord’s army”  Remember that one;  marching in the infantry, ride in the Calvary, shoot the artillery. We loved shooting the artillery. And in those days of imaginary war, our army of the Lord always won.  Indeed,  I think those Sunday School teachers indicated that. 

    As I wandered through young adulthood,  marriage,  motherhood,  empty nesting,  to today,  I found that my army didn’t always win.  Or at least, it didn't seem like it.  Today,  as I watch a little bit of news,  follow my friends and family on social media and receive the emails from my women’s group,  I feel like we are not winning.  My avid Seattle Seahawk fan daughter in law tells me “not winning is losing”.  The media would certainly agree that we are losing this battle.

   The Israelites in Deuteronomy  felt that they were losing. They were crossing the Jordan into their promised land but they had to drive out the inhabitants who had settled there. ( I mentioned before that I’m reading the chronological one- year Bible).  Those Israelites were a mess,  in Judges almost every chapter ends with “ and the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord”.  Still,  talk about great Mercy, God continues to forgive them and lead them onward.  Frankly,  I would have shook the dust off my feet at those people generations ago.  But, not God. No, He tells Moses to say,

 “ Do not be afraid of them,  the Lord your God himself will fight for you. (Deut.3:22 NIV)

Yahweh,  himself,  is going to fight this one.  He’s not even sending an army,  He’s just gonna take care of it.

   We have just celebrated Holy Week and Easter weekend. On that day at Calvary and three days later at the empty tomb,  Jesus,  himself fought for us.  Jesus, on His own, won the victory over death and the grave.  
    As I piously judge the Israelites of Deuteronomy,  I am convicted.  Me, my country;  we, too,  have "done evil in the sight of the Lord".  Before we go any further into this battle,  we must repent.  Individually and pray that our country will also.  We are not just fighting a virus; we are fighting powers of darkness.  This illness is a result of the fallen world we live in.  We cannot fight this battle  unless the Lord fights for us.  And He will not unless we turn to Him.
   Thank God, He is giving us earthly ways to fight,  but He most assuredly expects us to fight with weapons of repentance and faith. Because of His victory at Calvary,  we can  be victorious,  because the Lord, himself is fighting for us. 

Thinkin' today about what I need to do in this battle.