God, What Do I Do? Making Wise Decisions in Uncertain Timesഉദാഹരണം

Trusting God with the Impossible

What do you do when you feel intimidated? How do you move forward when you face discouragement by what you see in front of you?

Judges 1:17–19 describes more about the conquests of Judah and Simeon. Verse 19 (CSB) says, “The Lord was with Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the people who were living in the plain because those people had iron chariots.”

Let’s evaluate the iron chariots from two different angles. First, let’s look at the Canaanites’ perspective. They worshiped other gods and did not believe in the One True God. They demonstrated technological advancement by defending themselves with iron chariots. The chariots weren’t bad in and of themselves, but their trust in them was misguided and shortsighted.

When we face valleys—low times—in our lives, we can create our own version of “iron chariots” to defend our weak areas. Valley times are vulnerable times, and it makes sense to want to protect ourselves against further attack. But what if the “iron chariots” we construct to defend ourselves end up being an obstruction to experiencing complete restoration?

What if instead of depending on ourselves to keep the enemy at bay, we leaned into the One who knows exactly how to expose, defeat, and eradicate anything between our Great Deliverer and us and between us and living in the Promised Land?

Now, let’s look at these iron chariots from the perspective of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. When faced with the reality that they were going to fight people with superior armaments, they did not complete their directive to fully possess the land. It appears their faith waned when the odds—as they saw them with their natural eyes—were stacked against them.

God promised to give Judah success, yet in the presence of the enemy’s iron chariots, Judah’s courage melted into cowardice. The tribe of Judah was fighting well, but when faced with these intimidating weapons, they hightailed it out of battle. Not only did they fail to complete their mission, but their disobedience impacted the other tribes. What if the “iron chariots” we construct to defend ourselves end up being an obstruction to experiencing complete restoration?

Iron chariots have nothing on Him. He is the God of angel armies. God can deliver vulnerable people from the pursuit of a well-trained army (Exod. 14:5–28) and defeat giants with a single stone (1 Sam. 17:48–51). He can deliver His people from fiery furnaces (Dan. 3:8–25), the mouths of lions (Dan. 6:16–24), and the clutches of a crazed king (Ps. 18). He can defend us and deliver us when we see no way out.

O God, may we not stop short of fully obeying You, even when we are intimidated by the enemy. Help us stand our ground, knowing that You are greater than anything we face. May we be found faithful to finish the work You have entrusted us to do. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

What is something you are facing that feels impossible to overcome?

Memorize a Scripture to help you combat fear as you move forward in faith.