When the king of Israel was threatened by Ben-Hadad, (with a huge army behind him) this was his reply: "Let not the one who puts on his amor boast like the one who takes it off." 1 Kngs 20.11

    Fascinating implications and applications here, don't you think? We are often guilty of thinking "I can do it." We start the day (or the year) with enthusiasm and ambition with no real dependence on God for wisdom and guidance. Our thought is, "I can handle it." We make big investments of time and/or money, get involved in making big plans, anticipating great success-assuming a long and healthy life of course. That is the boasting of one who is 'putting his armor on.' Do you do that?


I    t seems to me that this 'boasting' is the opposite of humble dependence on the wisdom and guidance of God. We do not, and cannot know the outcome of the day, the year, the investment, or the battle. We certainly need to "put on the whole armor" of God, and then trust God for whatever comes next. In this case God said to the King of Israel, "I will deliver it (the battle) into your hand today, (-but not always!) and you shall know that I am the Lord." (Verse 13)

    The thing to learn is that the outcome can be left in God's hands, and at the end, when its time to 'take the armor off, we will see the truth of "all things work together for good, to them that love God.." Then, we can boast that by faith we obeyed and trusted God, and He never, ever, ever failed to provide for us, everything we ever needed. 

bh September 1, 2007
Blog: http://blog.bertsgoodstuff.com