Steven Furtick - The Best Way To Fight Your Battles
This is an excerpt from: When The Battle Chooses You
When it's God's possession, it's God's problem. I don't want to cry telling you this, if it hits your heart, then if it's God's possession, it's God's problem and then you realize that you are His treasure, you are His possession, you are His daughter, you are His son, you are His friend and your friend knows how to fight. It gives you the confidence.
"Oh our God, will you not judge them? For we", 2 Chronicles 20:12, "have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us". It's bigger than us. It came up from behind us. We can't do it. We do not know what to do. If you're there right now raise your right hand. I do not know what to do. I don't know how to fight. I don't know how to fix it. I can't control what comes against me. "But our eyes are upon You". And God says, "If you will change the focus, He will win the fight". If you will change the focus and stop looking at how big it is, but start praising Him for how great He is, help is on the way. 2 Chronicles 20:13, "All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, son of Zachariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly".
Why did you read all those names, Pastor Steven? Why didn't you skip over that? That's not important to the story. It absolutely is. Because every name that was represented, represented a generation that God was faithful in. And it meant that every single time that God got ready to pass His purpose to another generation, He didn't drop it, and He won't drop it now, and it won't stop with you and you won't lose the battle, unless you lose your focus. It's not about your power, it's about your position. Can I show you? You got like ten more minutes. I'm so thankful that that Prophet stood up and said what he said, because you know, everybody was starting to get ready to fight. And you know, if they had fought, they would have lost. Isn't that the craziest thing? It's ironic. If they had fought, they would have lost.
When you don't understand the nature of the battle that you're in, you use the wrong strategy. And some of us are losing, because we are fighting on the wrong level. To unpack it, I could use Ephesians 6:12, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood". But that's what we fight against, flesh and blood. We fight every battle physically, we fight people. We even fight people that are trying to help us, because we're insecure. We fight the battle to protect our ego and to protect our pride and then we lose the battle in our spirit because we were more concerned about protecting our pride than we were about receiving God's power and His help and His provision in our lives.
I was talking to somebody this week, and they were saying all kinds of crazy stuff to me. And the Lord said, "Not this one. Don't fight this one". Learn the 20% that He's saying is true. Keep your mouth shut, save your energy for the real battle. Sometimes I see a comment on Instagram, about my preaching or my shoes or something like that and the Lord says, "Not this one. Not this one". Because if you convince a fool, all you got for a friend is a fool. Not this one. Somebody say, "Not this one".
I watched a movie about Jackie Robinson, "42", and there was a scene in the movie where the owner was telling him, "We're going to put you in the system and hopefully get you to Brooklyn to play professional baseball. But there's one problem. What are you going to do when they're screaming racist threats in your face? What are you going to do when they attack you at every stop? What are you going to do when they push you to the breaking point"? And he jumped up in the depiction in the movie, I don't know if this happened in real life, but I like to think it did. And he said, "What do you want? A player who doesn't have the guts to fight"? And he looked back at him and said, "No, I wanna player who has the guts not to fight back".
And here's the message. Sometimes it takes more faith not to fight back. Sometimes it takes more faith to just let God be God and be great in your situation. Because if you manipulate it, you're gonna mess it up. If you start plucking tares, you're gonna pull up wheat. Sometimes it takes more faith to let God sort it out. And the Prophet said, "You have to understand the nature of the battle to understand the strategy".
This is why we don't fight much in our marriage after 17 years. It's not because we don't disagree, but we understand it's not me against her, it's me and her against it. If we thought it was me against her, we would fight each other. But we gotta line up on the same side of this problem, or we're gonna lose this battle. And at one time, when we were first, maybe a year and a half married, there came across our desk, a bill for $3.000 and I didn't have $3.000, not just laying around. I didn't have it. I did what I do when I'm afraid, I got angry. Did you hear me? When I'm afraid I get angry. 'Cause the anger is a camouflage for the fear which makes me feel vulnerable. So I gotta get angry, because that makes me look strong, 'cause on the inside, I feel weak. And I was yelling at Holly about the bill and it was only 70% her fault.
And in the middle of yelling, I saw her countenance change. And I'm not saying this excuses me yelling, I should have been more grown up. But she realized in that moment, "he's not fighting me, he's not mad at me. He's scared about this and if I can help him fight his fear, we can fix this together". But if you wrestle at the wrong level, you'll wear yourself out, fighting it where it shows up, but where it shows up is not where it started. So if you got somebody and they have an addiction, you can't counsel them to win against addiction with willpower. It's not a matter of willpower, it's a matter of worship. Something in their life has started meeting the needs that only God alone can meet. And if you don't show them that God can meet those same needs that alcohol can, that God can meet those same needs that pornography can, that God can meet those same needs as overspending, overeating can, if you don't fix the worship problem, you can't win it with willpower. Am I right about it?
So you gotta fight with a focus. Touch three people say, "Focus, focus". Fight with a focus. And the Prophet said, "This is not even about you. So don't be afraid". If it's too big for you, don't be afraid. This is what the Lord says to you. You got it on the screen, 2 Chronicles 20:15, "Don't be afraid". Don't be discouraged. Don't back down. Don't get in your own head and try to figure it out. You can't figure this one out. If you fight it, if you fight it, you're going to lose it. If you try to meet the righteous requirements of the law in your own strength, and don't let the power of Christ flow through you and the Holy Spirit direct you, you are going to keep losing the battles because you're wrestling on the level of what you can see, but it is not against flesh and blood, it's spiritual.
So he said, "Don't be afraid for this vast army". Vast army is the phrase they use when they were just saying, it's too big for you. I know it's too big for you. But the battle is not yours, but God's. When I say this, I want you to receive it, like if it was just for you. If it's too big, it doesn't belong to you. If it's too big, you got to give it back to God. And we say the battle is the Lord's, but we stress like it's ours. We say the battle is the Lord's, but we worry like it's ours.
Now we've wasted all of our strength worrying, when we could have been worshipping. The battle is not yours. Give it back. Quit doing God's job for Him. God wants His battle back. God wants His battle back. It's too big for you. It came up from behind you. You can't do it, give it back. You can't fight it, give it back. You can't figure it out, give it back. How do you give it back? That's a focus. That's looking beyond what's coming against you and looking toward what is within you to know that, "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world", and God wants His battle back.
The battle is not yours, but God's, and tomorrow I want you to march down against them, I want you to march down, against an enemy, that you're not even gonna have to fight. I want you to get in position. Not so that you can fight, not so that you can struggle, but so that you can see the deliverance that the Lord will bring about to Israel this day. God is fighting for Judah. God is fighting for worshipers. God is fighting for praisers. God is fighting for His people. God is fighting for you. You're His friend. You get His help. You get His strength. You get His miracles. You get His wisdom. You get His provision, you'll get His angels. If you worship you wage the war of worship. It's too big for me. What do you do when the battle chooses you? You worship your way through it.
Now that sounds good, but it feels stupid. Because here they come. Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites. They were all big in their own right, and they're all fighting together. And so how are you going to fight them? What are we going to do, Jehoshaphat? What are we going to do about this situation? What are we going to do about? The Prophet said, "You", 2 Chronicles 20:17, "will not have to fight this battle. But you're going to experience the victory". Not by fighting, but by focusing. If they would have fought, they would have lost, but because they focused on the goodness of God, you know what they did?
I love this scripture. I think this scripture is a beautiful illustration and picture of the weapons of our warfare that pull down strongholds in our life. It says that, "Jehoshaphat", 2 Chronicles 20:18, "bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before The Lord. Then some Levites", that's the priests. "Some Levites", the one who administer the Levitical law, the the priestly law, "from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel with a very loud voice".
Why? Why? "Because early in the morning, they left for the Desert of Tekoa. And as they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, 'Listen to me, Judah'", Judah means praise, "'and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld'". It's fight or flight time. It's fight or flight. But when you can't win the fight and you can't run from it, watch this. This is amazing. They didn't have to fight it, but they did have to face it. And God wants to give you the faith to face it, and to trust Him to fight it.
Do you have the faith not to fight it in your flesh, but to deal with it in your Spirit? Jesus told Peter, "Put your sword away". Sometimes it takes more faith not to fight. Sometimes it takes more faith just to go to the cross and get over your pride and get over yourself and let Him fight your battles.
But what they did next is remarkable. Especially considering the enemies were standing right in their face. The Scripture says, "After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord". Singing is a strange strategy to fight three nations all at once. But sometimes the battle is so big, that you know, I can't fight this on my own.
I always thought that this scripture meant that when you're in trouble, you should sing. But some people can't carry a tune and they don't like music. Now, I realize that the passage isn't about music. It's about focus. And I want you to look past your enemy. And I want you to sing. It says that, "Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His Holiness". Let's focus on Him. Let's focus on what's right about God, rather than what's wrong with our life. And if you will focus on that, if you will focus on that, if you will look past what's standing in front of you that's bigger than you, and look to the God who is bigger than it and praise Him for the splendor of His Holiness.
"As they went out at the head of the army saying, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord'". I wonder, are there any praisers from the tribe of Judah, who are willing to use gratitude as a strategy for the battle that I'm in and magnifying the Lord in the middle of the battle. "And as they began to sing in praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies, and they were defeated by the angel armies of God".
God is going to fight what you can see, by sending what you can't see. I declare an ambush against insecurity, an ambush against addiction, an ambush against oppression, an ambush against the darkness in your life. And watch this and I'm a pray for you. "The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men of Mount Seir", that's the enemies, "to destroy and annihilate them". The enemy started eliminating the enemy. That's what happens when you let God fight your battles. He's gonna use everything that came against you. He's gonna use everything that the enemy meant for evil. He's gonna use a cross to create a space for a resurrection. For the glory of the Lord is in this place. Give Him the shout of praise!