War is a tricky business. Sometimes we think we have all the power, and the enemy punches holes in all our defenses.
In the years preceding World War II, French Minister of War André Maginot built an impenetrable line of concrete fortifications between his country and the threat of possible German invasion.
The Germans simply went around, conquering Belgium and taking France anyway. The state-of-the-art fortification system constructed by the French was costly, and it cost them the war, according to some experts, because it drained funds from military efforts in the rest of the country.
What the French considered their pièce de résistance became their heavy weight that eventually pulled them into subjugation.
Where is justice in our efforts to do the best we can? France didn’t find it. All their efforts proved wasted, and Germany still gained exactly what they wanted: control of one of the most powerful countries in the world, and with little warfare.
How do we find justice in the spiritual war that rages around us?
1 Samuel 11:1 gives us the desperate pleas of the men of Jabesh when threatened with decimation by an invading force:
“Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”
1 Samuel 11:2 gives us their oppressors’ response:
“On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.”
Where was the justice? The men of Israel offered themselves to the enemy, and the enemy wanted more, even to putting out one eye of each of Jabesh’s fighting men.”
Then God stepped onto the scene. Word was sent throughout Israel, and 330,000 men struck down the enemy until “no two of them were left together.”
One side thought they had all the power, until God punched a hole in their defenses. They fell like dominoes until there were none remaining.
There is justice in the world when God’s on our side. We see this in 2 Samuel 3:1, where the Word tells us:
“There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”
God was on David’s side, and the Lord tipped the scales David’s way. We know from the Word it didn’t happen instantly; instead, the enemy grew weaker and weaker, while the champion of God grew stronger and stronger.
God will rout our enemy. Like David, we may have to battle away for a time, but victory will be ours. If we dicker with the enemy like the men of Jabesh, or rely on our own might like the French, we will find justice slipping away. If we rely on the Lord, we will overcome every time.
When God steps in, he changes the balance of everything.
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Originally Published 7-30-15 in Hope