…he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4
In 1 Samuel 16:12, 13 we read how Samuel anointed David, the youngest of eight brothers, to be king of Israel. In the next chapter, 1 Samuel 17 we see that this young boy/youth found himself in single and mortal combat with the Philistine giant Goliath. David was called to be a warrior king and deliver Israel from their enemies. Straight away he was thrust into a major battle, which he helped his beleaguered nation to win. Soon the women sang;
”Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands”. 1 Samuel 18:7
The women soon recognised that the greater ‘anointing’ or victory lay with David.
In Luke 3:21, Jesus was baptised along with many people in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. The Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove and the Father spoke from heaven (all three members of the Godhead present), “You are My beloved Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”.
The next words at the beginning of Luke 4 are quite different from the blessings spoken to Jesus at the Jordan.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, were for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days and at the end of them He was hungry. Luke 4:1, 2
Jesus, praised and loved by His Father at the time of His baptism at the Jordan was immediately led into the desert for a full blown confrontation with the devil. He too, like David emerged victorious and ‘Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit’. Luke 4:14 Jesus calling described in the first epistle of John;
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 1 John 3:8
In both examples, David and Jesus (God in the flesh), were thrust into situations of extreme confrontation. God sustained them, but both had to fight their battles and win them before advancing with their calling. We all prefer the safe place, but early and late in our Christian Walk, the Lord may call us to fight a battle against the enemy of our faith. To all seven churches in Revelation 2&3, the Lord addresses them, ‘to him who overcomes’, hence the expression ‘fight the good fight of faith’.
Finally a quote from the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe by C S Lewis;
Safe? …Who said anything about safe? Course He isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.
God bless and keep you today.