Run To The Battle Line

1 Samuel 17

There is a spiritual awakening happening right now. Maybe you’re not familiar, but there is a spiritual war happening all around us. It’s not a question of “if” it’s happening, but rather if we have the eyes to see it and understand what’s really going on.

The Bible tells us that the enemy is prowling around like a lion, looking for those who he can devour.

There is a real enemy who is after your soul. Your family.

Your home.

Your marriage.

Your calling.

Why? You’ve been marked by God.

Jeremiah 1:5 says that before He formed us in the womb, He knew us. Before we were born, He set us apart.

We are marked by our creator. He chose us.

God marked David long before David had fought any giants. He was the youngest and the most unlikely of them all. He wasn’t fit to be a king, win wars or slay enemies. He was a shepherd boy. His day to day was ordinary to him. He just spent his time tending to sheep.

I think the enemy would love to convince you that you are ordinary. That your day to day is ordinary. Your life is ordinary. Maybe you feel like it is. Maybe you struggle with your daily routine because it feels insignificant as a stay at home mom, a full time working mom, a college student, etc.

But I think the Lord wants to awaken your eyes to see the reality that you are not ordinary and neither is this life.

There is a war being waged.

David realized that his life wasn’t ordinary. The time that he had spent tending to the sheep in the pasture was preparing him for the battlefield. He stayed faithful where God had him and readied himself for whatever was ahead.

When the moment came where nobody was willing to step forward and face the real enemies, he was.

His attitude said, “Here I am Lord, send me. I’m available.”

It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut and a routine of life - wake up, drink coffee, spend time with the Lord, do laundry, work, serve your family, go about your day, sleep, repeat.

We can get caught in this cycle where we live for ourselves and we even get bored because we lose sight of the eternal. We start to question our purpose and who we were meant to be.. and we slowly allow the enemy to steal the courage and vigor in our life to conquer those very real enemies.

When we get so deep into our routines and cycles, we miss the opportunities, the purpose and the reason that we’re here. We become numb to the very real battle that is happening around us. We start to focus too much inward and we fail to see the world that is in flames around us.

We wonder why our marriages are struggling.

We wonder why our children are struggling.

We wonder why we can’t see past our anxiety.

We live in a cloud.

We forget that we’ve been given authority in the name of Jesus to take back our homes and our families and our attitudes towards life.

Ultimately sister, this is a choice we make. David could have done the same thing. He could have stood back and hoped someone else would step forward to fight Goliath. But he realized that this was the moment he was created for.

Sure, he had lots of naysayers.

His courage to step forward and defeat the enemy was met with discouraging words.

But David let God in Him be greater than the voices around him.

He knew he had everything he needed because he had God on his side.

God had called him.

And if God was for him, who could be against him?

When David stepped forward to fight Goliath, he was given another’s armor to wear as he fought the giant. But David quickly realized that the only armor He truly needed was the Lord. He understood that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t protect himself. No armor or protection from man would win this battle. This battle belonged to the Lord and the victory was His.

When we walk with the Lord and have eyes that are open to see the spiritual battle going on, we carry a confidence and understanding that even though it may feel mundane to tend sheep, fold laundry, to pray the same prayers over our home, read the same scriptures.. we are being equipped for something so much greater than we can see. We understand that the threat is very real and if we don’t run to the battle line, who will?

If we don’t say, “here I am, Lord,” who will?

For forty days, the Israelites were camping in fear, hoping for a miracle.

David knew the miracle would be activated in obedience. He didn’t know how it would, he just knew that the Lord would be victorious.

Nobody can take care of your soul for you.

Nobody can pray for your family as God designed you to.

Nobody can fight for your family like you can.

God has marked you.

He has given you everything you need to fight the battle, to speak against the enemy in your home, your marriage, your kids’ lives,  your neighborhood and your city.

So daughter, wake up.

Put on the armor of God and take back what is His.

It’s time to run to the battle line.

Brooke Napier