Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Chronicles 13-14; Luke 7:1-30
In our readings from 2 Chronicles 13 and 14 we read about a father and son leaders who lead Judah, with the help of God, against armies that were almost twice their size, and got victory.
The first battle in chapter 13 had Judah's king Abijah against Israel's king Jeroboam. Isreal had approx 800,000 men and Judah had approx 400,000 men. King Abijah stood up and warned Isreal that even though they had more men, Judah followed the Lord and would therefore defeat Isreal. Isreal even tried a sneak attack and then got beaten soundly by the smaller Judah, who relied on God.
In chapter 14 we read about Abijah's son king Asa, who faced Zerah the leader of Ethiopia, who had a million men. Asa had just under 600,000 men but again found victory because he relied on God.
Both these battles were larger than any single battle fought in both World War one and two. The amount of soldiers involved and the amount of weapons and supplies used would have been unreal to comprehend. The odds of Judah winning both of these battles would have been small. Yet God gave victory to the one who trusted in Him. Do we faithfully keep trusting in God when the odds are against us or something we're trying to accomplish for Him?
Again in out New Testament reading we see again how God does things that seem impossible. First Jesus heals a Centurion's servant who was close to death, then He raises a man from the dead who was a widow's son.
God can do anything, I need to have more faith and not give up on people. There's people in my life that seem forever lost, to me it seems hopeless, I need to keep praying for these people and trust and believe that God can do a miracle in these lives too.
2 comments:
What I love about stories like these is that it shows that God is the only One deserving of the glory for the victory. The thing is, it's ALWAYS God who is the only One deserving of the glory - we just can't always see it or are not always willing to acknowledge it.
The story of the Centurion was mentioned in a Sunday School class recently and I had never really considered it in the way it was explained. For the Centurion to seek out Jesus with such bold faith was so humbling to a man of that status. The Sunday School lesson pointed out that Jesus was astonished at this boldness 'he marvelled at him'. Here is Jesus, the son of God and He was in awe?? May I be bold to ask for big things and believe they can be done.
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