God sees whatever battle we are in and will fight for us.   ~~~   Is it time to drop your weapons? I don’t know about you, but when I’m attacked, I don’t readily want to lay my weapons down. The natural response is to weapon up like you see in the movies. You fire at me, I’ll fire back. Now I’m not talking literally, but goodness we have some sharp arrows in our proverbial arsenal we like to throw at the ready don’t we? Remember the power of your tongue and the power of your comments? I won’t dig deep into that today, but if you need Godly wisdom, there is much to read in His word about the heart and what flows out of it by way of your tongue. Dig into that and ask God to reveal and heal the roots of your words. Today I wanted to remind you of what is true if you are in a season of verbal attack, hurt or betrayal. First, remember you are never alone. God sees and He knows what you’re facing. Take your hurts to the Lord and allow His love and healing grace to meet you there. In Genesis 16 we read how the Lord met Hagar in her sorrow. “You are the God who sees me”, she prayed. He sees you today and in Him there is comfort, wisdom and peace. Second, drop your weapons. We don’t battle as the world does. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Paul was being slandered by the church he planted in Corinth and his authority as an apostle of Jesus was being challenged. His faithful obedience, empowered by the Holy Spirit, was all he needed to stand strong against his accusers. Like Paul, let your life be the witness to silence the words of those against you. Fight on your knees in prayer. Love your enemies and those who come against you. Your soft answer and unexpected response of grace to their anger could bring them to repentance. Third, remember the Lord is your shield. Psalm 3:3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. When King David prayed these words he was being attacked at every turn. To make it cut a little deeper, his son Absalom was leading the attack. David prayed, ‘Lord you are a shield around me’. If you read about David, you quickly get a glimpse of the great warrior he was. No doubt he was familiar with a full body shield that shields one from the arrows AS they would MOVE forward. David’s faith, identity, character, even though all were being attacked, were shielded and protected by God. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “What a divine trio of mercies is contained in this verse! Defense for the defenseless, glory for the despised, and joy for the comfortless.” Whatever battle you may be in, remember God sees you. He IS always at work around you and the war that rages is not against flesh and blood. Don’t fight as the world does. Go to the Lord in prayer. He is your shield. He is your glory. Lift your head and remember what is true. You are never without hope, you are loved and you are never alone in the battle. That’s the truth. Let’s drop our weapons. Whatever that looks like for you today, allow God to lead you, guide you and give you strength to love, even your enemies through the battle. I’m Lori Cline.