(Last week, I shared with those of you on my Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/KimberlyEhlers) how blessed I was by an amazing webinar given by Beth Jones of www.bethjones.net. It was called, Iron Sharpens Iron: Women in Spiritual Warfare. As mothers of children with serious illnesses, we know that we are in a battle. Beth’s webinar was eye opening and encouraging. I couldn’t help but wish you, my readers, would have been there to hear her message. We are so blessed to have Beth gives us a taste of her webinar through a two part article series. I encourage you to take a minute to sign up for her ezine so that you can be kept up to date on her webinars and be encouraged by her passion and trust in God. Now, onto Beth’s article, be blessed, my friends! Love, Kimberly)
Do you have a hero or heroine in the Bible? Maybe Abraham, Moses, King David, Esther, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene? One of mine is Deborah, the judge and prophetess in Judges Chapter 4. This was a strong, bold, faith-filled woman. I like her style!
Deborah stands out among women in the Bible because she went to war, something that usually only the men at that time did. The women stayed home to take care of the children, to manage the household, to make weapons and supplies for the army, and to pray.
But Deborah was different. She was a warrior who trusted in her God and heard His voice clearly. In fact, if it wasn’t for Deborah, Israel might not ever have had victory over their enemy, who had been oppressing the Israel people for 20 years!
Basically what happened in this story is this: Deborah was a judge and a prophetess for Israel. She judged legal matters of the people near a palm tree called the “palm of Deborah.” As Deborah was praying, she heard God’s voice give her some specific instructions for Barak, the leader of Israel’s army.
He was to take 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. God would lead Sisera, the commander of the enemy Jabin’s army with his 900 chariots and troops, to the Kishon River and defeat him there.
But Barak was afraid, and he asked Deborah to go with him. She agreed, but told him because he had asked this (in fear), that the honor of the battle would go to a woman. She was referring to Jael, a stay-at-home mom who later would drive a tent peg with a hammer through Sisera’s skull when he came to her tent and fell asleep, after he ran away from the battle on foot.
Everything happened just as God and Deborah had said. Barak took Naphtali and Zebulun’s 10,000 men, with Deborah, up to Mount Tabor. When Sisera was told that the Israel army was at Mount Tabor, Sisera summoned all his men and 900 iron chariots, and they meet.
Now look at what Deborah does. She begins to prophesy the word of the Lord in the heat of the battle! It’s very important that we speak God’s word with faith – not negative and pessimistic words that are full of unbelief, fear, and doubt. Our tongues have the power to speak life or death, blessing or cursing.
Begin to speak the word of God in your circumstances today. “Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?”
Dear friend, don’t you realize that God has gone out before you to do battle on your behalf? You don’t have to be afraid. You can trust God for whatever you are facing today! God is bigger than your circumstances. God is bigger than that frightening enemy!
After Deborah begins to speak forth God’s anointed word in confident faith in the midst of the battle, God and the Israel army surrounded Sisera and all his chariots, and defeated them!
Not a single man was left, except Sisera, who ran away on foot away from the battle – something no leader should ever do. After Jael invited Sisera into her tent and gave him milk, promising not to tell anyone he was in there, she got the tent peg and the hammer, and drove it through his skull, killing him. Jael, a woman, had won the final victory for Israel, just as Deborah had prophesied! The enemy was destroyed!
It all started with Deborah hearing God’s word in prayer. In this life, we as Christians inevitably will face problems, struggles, stress, spiritual battles. We can’t handle these things on our own, in our power and our strength. We desperately need God!
God will help us to obtain the victory. But first we have to listen for His voice to get His instructions. To hear His battle plans and strategies! How do we do that?
Beth is a dear, sweat friend to me. She and I have a lot in common. One thing being our love of Deborah. My Messy Motives Bundle was based on my own inspiration from Deborah. At the end of the battle Beth described, Deborah sang praise to God. She also said that may those who love the LORD shine like the sun at full force. Sadly, our motives for wanting God in our lives can interfere with being able to shine for him – and having sick children can easily take us down wrong-way roads like Happy Trails Route or Road to Self-Destruction. Those roads lead us to Messy Motives. To read more about these roads go to an old article of mine – http://kimberlyehlers.com/?p=335 . Like to know how you can shine for God even now, during your storm? I’ve got just the article for you!
