Written in Heaven

In 1 Kings 20, there’s a story that’s always grabbed my attention and has shaped my understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Ahab is the current king of Israel and a prophet comes to him and tells him that the Lord is giving Ahab’s enemies into his hands that very day. Ahab responds with, “And who will start the battle?” The prophet answered, “You will.” (1 Kings 20:14)

The Old Testament is filled with battle scenes, kings, prophets and all kinds of stuff that would be rated R if it were turned into a feature Hollywood film. The New Testament is the story of Jesus physically on earth, and His message of peace, hope, and love. We can err in this way of thinking sometimes in going too far. We assume that Jesus wasn’t really in the Old Testament (though He does make many appearances) so the Old Testament is basically irrelevant to our lives today. If we follow this logic, we end up with a picture of Jesus that makes Him look like a folk singer from the 70’s, always happy and wouldn’t even consider the possibility of becoming angry at anyone for anything.

The truth of the matter though, is that what we face daily is spiritual warfare. I recently heard a teacher talk about how in the Hebrew language, there’s no word for ‘spiritual.’ Meaning that if you asked someone “how’s your spiritual life?” they wouldn’t know what you’re referring to because in their culture, everything was part of your spiritual life.

Jesus is definitely about love and peace and all of those things, but He is also a mighty warrior that calls us to fight with Him. So many Christians walk around acting beat down when we should be the one’s doing the beating. God told Ahab that He has already given these enemies into Ahab’s hands and all Ahab has to do is follow what God tells Him to do – namely, start the battle.

In the same way, Jesus ultimately defeated all the enemies we face today. Whatever it is that you’re dealing with today, the cross of Christ is sufficient to deal with that struggle, hurt, brokenness, worry, etc.

So start the battle! Find your hope in Jesus Christ. Focus on Him, not on your problem. Surround yourself with people who love Jesus and will support you through this time. Jesus wants to see you through to victory. Keep battling. Keep fighting. The victory is found in Jesus!