Facing Battles in this Life God's Way (Proverbs 21:31) with Dante DeVilla

Thank you, Anthony, and the music team in preparing our hearts for our word the word of God this morning.

It is my privilege.

Good morning, everyone.

It is my privilege to be bringing the word of God to you this morning.

And I begin with an absolute statement.

One that is true to all of us gathered here today.

This statement cuts across all boundary lines of life.

Age, color of skin, language, level of education, physical strength, bank account balance, you name it.

This statement is true whether you are young or old.

This statement is true whether you are able to speak one language, two or multiple languages.

This statement is true whether you have a dollar or more in your bank account.

This statement is true.

Whether you have been walking with the Lord for most of your life or you are a recent convert to the faith, praise the Lord if that is you.

What statement do I have in mind?

It's this.

You and I face spiritual battles.

And by the way, from the outset, I want to say that because we are embodied beings, embodied creatures, all of our battles are spiritual battles.

The specifics of your battle compared to my battle would be and could be and are different.

But yet each one of us here have had and are having a fair share of battles in this life.

And since this is true, how you face your battles, your struggles, your conflicts is crucial to your journey of faith.

Battles, struggles, conflicts can bring you down.

Physical battles can bring you down.

Financial battles can bring you down, relationship conflicts can bring you down.

And how you face this can mean a difference between a productive, effective, victorious Christian life and an uneffective, unproductive, defeated Christian life.

The book of Proverbs is given to us by God as instruction for wise and godly living.

The book is full of practical theology.

It touches on pretty much all matters of life.

It has so much to say about your heart, your hands, your feet, your tongue, your time, your money, your marriage, your parenting, your friendship, your relationships, and all other matters of life.

Seeming mundane objects are used to illustrate practical theology.

Ants, rock badgers, lizards, locusts are used towards the end of the book to illustrate practical wisdom.

King Solomon, the primary human author of the book, is believed to have had broad interest in nature.

He's interested in animals, birds, snakes, trees, fish, you name it.

It explains, it helps explains, it partly explains why animal imagery is used throughout the book.

The fear of the Lord is the main theological theme of the book of Proverbs.

And in a number of places in the book, you'll see this truth declared.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

For our message this morning, we will consider just one verse.

One verse in the book of Proverbs that teaches, that speaks about how we should face battles in this life.

We will also have a supplementary text in the book of Ephesians.

In our time together, we will see that battles in this life are real.

We will also see that victory over battles in this life is sure in the Lord.

And then with those two main themes, we will then consider some action points for us to take, to go, to take away and apply into our next week's life and into the next then into the future.

So the main themes of our message again.

Battles in this life are real.

Victory over battles in this life is sure in the Lord, and then we will consider some main action points, some action points.

I've entitled this message Facing Battles in This Life God's Way.

Proverbs chapter 21, verse 31.

Proverbs 21:31

Proverbs chapter 21, verse 31.

Proverbs 21:31

It says the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.

Now please go forward to the right of your Bible and follow with me to the book of Ephesians for our supplementary text.

The book of Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 12.

Ephesians 6:12

Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12.

Ephesians 6:12

Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12 is our supplementary text.

Ephesians 6:12

It reads, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against a spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Please join with me in a short prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, as we open your word this morning, what we know not, teach us.

What we have not give us.

What we are not make us by your Holy Spirit and for Christ's sake.

Amen.

Proverbs 21:31 emerges from a broader theological framework that shapes how the nation of Israel understood military engagement.

Proverbs 21:31

The verse presents to us the war horse or war horses as resources, tool for warfare.

When the book of Proverbs was being written, war horse chariots were the best in military technology then.

There have been many developments since with the more advanced military arsenal of today.

Verse 31 is closely connected to the verse immediately before it.

Verse 30, which says, I'll read it for you, verse 30, there is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord.

There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord.

Whilst verse 30 reminds us or warns us not to fight against the Lord, verse 31 warns us, reminds us, teaches us not to fight without the Lord.

These two verses taken together gives us, give us a unified thought of divine, divine responsibility and human sovereign.

Sorry, divine responsibility.

Sorry, human responsibility and divine sovereignty.

I'm getting those mixed up.

Divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

Proverbs 30 reminds us it is futile to fight against the Lord, and Proverbs 31 reminds us it is futile to fight without the Lord.

So we ask the question: what does it look like to fight with the Lord rather than against him?

It is my prayer and my hope to provide an answer to this very important question.

Our text declares right on that battles in this life are real.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, the day of battle.

Our human author declares right on that there is the day of battle.

Without second guessing, without being around the bush, he just declares right on there are battles in this life.

Battles in this life are real.

The writer of our text is not the only one in this.

They experienced and they wrote about battles, struggles, conflicts in their time.

Observing, seeing what's going on in the community, in the people of God, the Old Testament prophets saw social injustice prevailing, religious rituals prevailing, religious rituals devoid of genuine worship of the Lord, and idolatrous living prevailing.

The Old Testament prophets cried out, How long, O Lord, how long?

They prayed, they wanted their battles to be gone, to be done away with.

The Apostle Paul likewise in our supplementary text declares that we do battle, we do struggles.

Why is this the case?

Why do we battle?

Why do we have struggles?

Why do we have conflicts in this life?

You do not face physical battles randomly.

You do not have your relationship struggles just because you're older and you're no longer as good looking, or simply because you put on extra weight.

You do not face conflicts in the workplace because you just couldn't fit in, or your manager looks or thinks less of you than the other coworkers.

You do not face financial battles just because the superannuation market, the share market has hit your superannuation badly, or because you have overspent in your last holiday, or because you didn't really need it to purchase that expensive item and you proceeded anyway.

You do not face spiritual battles simply because you are slacking around lately.

You have been slacking around lately, you haven't been reading your the word of God, you haven't been praying as you're all as you ought to.

Yes, brothers and sisters, these do play a part in you facing battles.

The way you live your life, the way you conduct your life, do play a role in the frequency and in the intensity of your battles.

Yet there is a fundamental truth why you and I face battles in this life.

You see, God created a perfect universe with a perfect earth, having perfect order, perfect design, perfect purpose.

There was order were wholeness, safety, and peace.

There was shalom, and nothing was lacking in God's perfect creation.

Everything God created was good.

Boys and girls, when God finished making the first man and the first woman, what did he say?

He said it was very good.

It was very good.

Sometime we do not know exactly when, out of his creatures, an intruder rose up and rebelled against God.

This intruder brought many like him with him, brought down many like him with him, as we saw, as we can read in Apostles' letter, uh Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we just read as a supplementary text.

After Paul declares that we do wrestle, we do battle, he then enumerates what seems to be a hierarchy of evil forces.

What do we see there?

Principalities, then expanding out from their powers, then expanding again, rulers of darkness, then expanding back again.

Spiritual hosts of wickedness.

After his rebellion, the intruder was judged and was cast out of heaven.

After being judged and not happy, he, the intruder, wanted the man and woman whom God created in his image, the man and woman whom God created as his representatives, as his imagers to rule for towards everything over everything that God has made.

The intruder wanted the man and woman to join him in his rebellion against God the Creator.

Sadly.

Given for what?

Given for their wholeness, given for their safety, given for their peace.

Sadly, because of their rebellion, the man and woman were judged.

And sadly, they brought down with them the entire human race and the entire created order.

Sadly, Shalom was lost in God's perfect creation.

But thankfully, God's perfect creation, God's purpose in his perfect creation though was interrupted, thankfully, was never abandoned.

Yes, God's perfect plan for his perfect creation was interrupted, it was never abandoned.

Since then, and in all the generations that followed, after the first man and woman, all the generations that followed, the intruder has usurped for himself, has claimed for himself, has illegally taken for himself, appropriated for himself the allegiance of humanity.

Since then, the intruder has been in constant battle against God.

Since then, the intruder has been running a false kingdom against the true kingdom, the one true kingdom, the kingdom of God.

Since then, and until the son of God finally returns to banish the intruder, brothers and sisters, the people of God, you and me, redeemed by the Son of God, experience battles, experienced struggles, experienced conflicts in this life.

The many battles, struggles, conflicts you face in this life is a reality because of this fundamental truth that there is a cosmic, there was a cosmic battle between the intruder and the one true God, and there is an ongoing battle between a false kingdom and the true kingdom of God.

All the battles you face in this life can be traced back to this cosmic reality.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of the wickedness in the heavenly places.

Battles in this life are real, our first point, battles in this life are real because they stem from a cosmic reality.

Not only that battles in this life are real because they stem from a cosmic reality, they are real because they are common to all since the fall.

They are common to all since the fall.

Every single one of us faces battles, conflicts, because they are common to all sins, the fall, the fall.

The rebellion against God by the intruder, and then later by the man and woman, led to the loss of shalom, as I already mentioned.

Shalom in God's perfect creation was lost.

The curse of sin pervades the entire created order.

Nothing, nothing, brothers and sisters, is untouched by sin.

Why do we have hospitals?

Why do we have prisons?

Have you ever asked those questions?

Why can't you get along with your co-worker?

Why is there conflict in marriages?

The curse of sin pervades the entire created order.

Awaiting full reversal.

Awaiting full reversal.

And when the Son of God returns and ushers the new heaven and the new earth.

Until then, we are on this journey between the Garden of Eden and the heavenly city in the new earth.

Battles in this life are real because they stem from a cosmic reality.

They are common to all since the fall.

And since these are true, battles in this life are inevitable.

They will come.

They will come.

That is why you and I need to prepare.

So we can face battles in this life God's way.

The first line of our text again, the horse is made ready for the day of battle.

We have kind of expounded the phrase for the day of battle.

Let's now talk about that first part of the first line.

The horse is made ready.

The horse is made ready.

The verb used here is a participle.

More specifically, an absolute passive participle.

With the subject horse and with the participle that's there, the horse is the subject is actually not doing the action of the verb, as you would see in a normal sentence.

Usually the subject is the doer of the action of the verb.

Not in our text.

In fact, the horse, because the part of the presence of the participle, the horse is receiving the action of the verb.

Meaning the horse is receiving the preparation, the training, the equipping being done to it by its owners and trainers.

Likewise, for you and me, brothers and sisters, the Lord has provided for us graciously and thankfully resources and tools.

What are they?

We call them means of grace.

One of them is here.

We're doing today gathering on the Lord's Day with the people of God, the Word of God, the Holy Spirit's presence, your prayer life, and fellowshipping with other believers and many others, uh, other means of grace.

We are provided with resources and tools so that we can face battles.

In this life, God's way.

We have seen that battles in this life are real because they stem from a cosmic reality.

They are common to all since the fall.

They are inevitable and now and that we need to be prepared so that we can face them God's way.

Let's now consider our second theme.

Let's now consider our second theme, which is victory over battles in this life is sure in the Lord.

In other translations, the word victory is called named deliverance.

Deliverance over battles in this life is sure in the Lord.

In the immediate context of our text, the nation of Israel was promised victory in battle.

They were to prepare their horses, but God promised that victory will come.

It is true for us today.

The Lord is our sure source of victory.

In all the battles, the struggles, the conflicts that we face in this life.

Victory over battles in this life is sure in the Lord.

Earlier, I gave a high-level account of this cosmic battle that went on.

The intruder is a created being, not the creator.

His power is limited in comparison to the omnipotence of the Almighty.

He is limited in time and space in comparison to the omnipresence of the Almighty.

His understanding and his knowledge is limited in comparison to the omniscience of the Almighty.

The intruder is already a defeated foe.

The intruder has been judged.

He is on borrowed times.

And he will one day be forever banished.

When the Son of God finally returns and usher the new heavens and the new earth, and the people of God will be living in the eternal state, no longer being intruded by the intruder.

And the perfect peace, shalom, is restored.

The Lord was victorious against the intruder in that cosmic battle.

The Lord is giving victory, providing victory for all the battles that his people face today.

And the Lord will deliver victory and end all battles in the future.

So brothers and sisters, past, present, and future.

From an eternal perspective.

Victory is from the Lord, or deliverance belongs to the Lord.

Contrary to the usual grammatical construction, you do not see a real usual verb here.

There's no real action verb here.

What do we see instead?

Rather, it has a linking verb.

It has a linking verb.

A linking verb links the subject.

In this context, in our text, it's victory.

Victory is the subject, it links or it is linked to the predicate.

What's the predicate?

Belongs to the Lord.

Victory, the subject, there's no real action verb, but there is a linking verb.

Belongs to the Lord.

Why am I raising this?

A very important point that's so easy to miss.

Because the main theological point of this line is that victory, this line is not describing, it's not talking about what God does.

It's talking about who possesses the victory.

The Lord possesses victory, provides victory, and will provide victory simply because of who he is.

Simply because of who he is.

We don't have time to spend on the Lord.

Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D.

That's the covenant name of God that comprises all of who is the verse human preparation.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle.

That's the human preparation with divine sovereignty.

Victory belongs to the Lord.

It highlights, yes, that human planning, human preparation are important.

Those are important things that we do, but they are not the determiner of the outcome.

They are not the determiner of the outcome.

God alone determines the outcome of your battles.

The grammatical construction of our text creates a stark contrast between the first line and the second line.

The first line highlights active preparation, resulting readiness in battle.

That's important.

We have to do that.

Yet the second line highlights that despite all of your active preparation, despite all of your equipping and readiness and preparation, they are not the determiner of the outcome.

God alone determines the outcome.

The victory, victory rests entirely with God.

That is where we're gonna go next.

That's where we're heading next.

Again, our main themes battles in this life are real.

Victory over battles in this life is sure in the Lord.

And so we prepare.

We prepare for battles in this life, but we trust the Lord for victory.

Brothers and sisters, in facing your battles, we hold, you hold, you and I hold this tension of human responsibility and divine sovereignty.

It is our responsibility to prepare for battles.

But despite of all our efforts, despite of all our preparation, there are no guarantees to victory.

The Lord alone provides the victory.

Related to what we're talking about.

My life is a story of this human tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, as I'm sure.

I'm sure your life is as well.

In one of the islands in the Philippines, I grew up in an abject intergenerational cycle of poverty.

My parents were very, very, very, very poor.

We were what you what you call tenant farmers, meaning we work on the land, but we did not own the land, and therefore we didn't we do not see an income until harvest.

We simply share a portion of the harvest.

A gigantic challenge.

A life lived in a hand-to-mouth existence.

My daughter said, What does that mean?

Well, you don't you do not really know where to find the next meal.

Where would the next meal come from?

This meant for me working odd jobs from very young age, as far back as I can remember, probably as age as young as age eight, as young as these boys.

You would see me working odd jobs, cleaning people's backyard, selling odd stuff through the streets of the town, through the mountain, earning probably 100 pesos, about 25 cents AUD today.

And that money is then used or helped to use, used to help dinner food.

Going to school, boys and girls, I would walk head down.

I would walk head down.

Our school, our primary school and high school, were walking distance from home.

So I boys and girls, I would walk head down, and you probably ask, why would you walk head down?

I was walking head down looking for a dropped coin.

Because only then, when I found dropped coin, then I can have money for recess.

In all days, in all in most of the days, I would just be sitting quietly in a corner of the room watching my classmates eat the recess.

In the Philippines, I'm not sure if it's still the case today, the teacher can just surprise you with quizzes without an unannounced test.

You have to be ready.

And sadly, the supplies, school supplies, they are not provided.

You have to bring your own supplies.

And because I have no money, most of the time the class is already in question number five, and I'm still begging for a piece of paper from my classmate.

From early childhood to primary, high to primary school, to high school, to university to law school, to when I got married, to when we moved to when I first moved to Australia in 2026 years ago to study initially.

Working diligently, working really, really hard.

I can say that with the best of my ability, I did my preparations.

But brothers and sisters, I can tell you, I am a living testimony that it always has been.

It always had been.

The Lord providing what's needed.

When we first moved to Australia in 2001, 2002, 2003 were the most faith-stretching years for Marilyn and I.

On a student visa, I was limited to work 20 hours during class sessions.

And so what we would do, and back then I could not afford a mobile phone, so when I would apply for jobs, I have a landline provided to in my resume.

And so during class sessions, you can work 20 hours, but during holidays you can work without limits.

So what we would do, what we would do by around September, August, September, we would start praying.

Lord, this is still very fresh in my mind.

Marlene and I would be praying in would be praying on the carpet in the unit that we were renting at Harris Park of Paramount, I believe.

We would be praying.

And we would be praying, and we would say, Lord, I can work without limit on the holidays.

Please provide a job.

And kid you not, brothers and sisters.

This happened at least a couple of times.

As soon as we said amen, the landline will ring.

And someone on the line line is the agency person that I spoke to two weeks ago.

And they would say, Dante, I have a job for you from December.

David was three years old when we first came.

Should we drop a dollar, we'll be in big trouble.

Our budget for food, I understand, was if I remember, about$20 per week.

How did you do that?

I don't know how my wife did that.

As far as I remember, we would just buy whatever the cheapest, whatever the cheapest fish, whatever the cheapest kind of cut of chicken, we dwelt on chicken wings.

Little Hong Kong in Parramara, I'm not sure if it's still around.

We would go there once a week and buy their leftover dish that they would sell that we would that they would sell on sale.

And that would be a couple of you or more than a couple of meals or dishes for meals for us.

Let's talk about Moses.

Let's talk about Moses.

Before the Lord called Moses to deliver the people of God from Pharaoh and their slavery in Egypt, the Lord prepared him for that great exodus.

Moses and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh a few times, a number of times, until he finally provided his permission that the people of God would live after the tenth plague.

Yet it was the Lord who provided victory when he parted the Red Sea.

And the over two million people, the over two million Hebrew people crossed on dry ground with the walls of water on their left and the walls of water on their right.

They did their preparation, the limited preparation as far as they could.

But it was the Lord who parted the Red Sea.

It was the Lord who made a way out of no way.

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you, I challenge you.

Read and reread and reread Exodus 14.

And place yourself in the put yourself in the place of those over two million people.

You are on dry ground on the Red Sea, and there's walls of waters on your left, and there's walls of water on your right.

And be in awe of your great God.

Be in awe of the glory and the greatness of your great God.

Why?

Because that God, that God is the same God that we are serving today.

That God is the same God who we are believing today.

We are praying to today, the same God who will deliver you and me from all the battles that we face in this life.

How about Joshua?

Joshua saw the good role modeling, the good role modeling of Moses.

He saw the miracles God did through with Moses.

Yet when it is was when it was his time to lead the people of God into the promised land, he did his preparations, but it was the Lord.

The walls of Jericho came crashing down because of the Lord.

Let's talk about Ruth.

I love Ruth.

Ruth, loyal to her mother-in-law Naomi, found herself in that portion of the fields belonging to Boaz.

Ruth did the right thing, did not sit idle.

She went out.

When you're hungry and you have no food, you have to work hard, and she did.

Yet I believe that her diligence and her hard work were a result of her earlier life and her earlier diligence and earlier life experiences.

Yet, despite of her preparation, despite of her diligence, despite of her hard work, it was the Lord who placed her at the right time, at the right place, meeting the right people.

It was the Lord who orchestrated her meeting Boaz.

It was the Lord who delivered her and Naomi from their financial woes.

And in doing so, the Lord had spared, the Lord had saved the family line from whom the Messiah would later come.

How about David?

Prior to that eventful day, David facing Goliath, David had plenty of experiences in the jungle where he faced the lions and the bears.

But despite of all of those prior experiences, David was victorious over the giant of the Philistines, Goliath.

You know the story?

Because of the Lord.

Because of the Lord.

How about Jesus?

Even the Lord Jesus Christ prepared his disciples for three years to the upcoming gospel ministry.

After his arrest, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension.

The disciples had three years of preparation in front of the best seminarian professor.

For three years.

Yet despite of their preparations, the success of their gospel ministry, which turned the world upside down, reaching down to Australia today and reaching to many other parts of the world.

It was only victorious and successful because of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Where we see human responsibility and divine sovereignty.

Brothers and sisters, prepare for battles in this life, but trust the Lord for victory.

Trust the Lord for victory.

How do you prepare?

I'm gonna give you now some action points.

How do you prepare?

How do you prepare?

First, prepare humbly.

Prepare humbly.

What do I mean?

Please remember, please recognize, please remind yourself every single time, every single day.

Prepare humbly that what you have, what you possess today, even your very the very air that you breathe, your strength, all the means of grace that I mentioned earlier, all of these are from God.

Prepare humbly.

Do not face your battles in your life thinking that you can make it.

Because you are talented, because you are strong, because you are young.

Prepare humbly next, prepare wisely.

Prepare wisely.

In your preparation, you may need the counsel of others.

For example, if you're facing relationship battle, if you're a married person, you may need the guidance of a Christian marriage counselor.

And if I can add, you may want to revisit, reconsider, reassess your view of marriage.

A wise professor of mine says, and I've said this a few times before in front of maybe some of you, a wise professor of mine said marriage is primarily not to make you happy, but to make you holy.

Marriage is not primarily to make you happy, but to make you holy.

And I believe he's right.

Two people, even if they are believers, two sinful people being sanctified, living under one roof.

What do you expect?

So, husbands, please review, reassess, reconsider your expectations of marri in marriage.

Marriage is not primarily to make you happy, but to make you holy.

So walk graciously with your wife, walk lovingly with your wife.

Wives, walk lovingly with your husband, walk graciously with your husband because both of you are being sanctified, both of you are being made holy in your marriage, despite all the conflicts.

And maybe change, look at your lifestyle.

Maybe you need to put on, maybe you need to include exercise regimen in your in your weekly schedule.

Maybe you need to eat more vegetables.

I I was told they're healthy.

And fruits.

If you're facing financial battle, you may need to review how you're spending your money.

You may need to have a budget, you may need to ensure that you're spending less than what you're earning.

Otherwise, you will always be, as we say, in the business world, in the red.

You will never catch up.

You may need to reconsider do you really need a new smartphone?

Apple and and go and Samsung and Google and all the other manufacturers would love for you to buy the next release.

But do you really need a new one?

When your current one is still working?

And if I can press a little bit more personal, do you really need that Netflix subscription?

Do you really need that stand subscription?

Or whatever, whatever subscription you have?

Do you don't you realize that you are wasting money and that you are wasting time on it?

I'm not saying don't have entertainment.

What I'm saying is, are they really necessary?

The apostle Paul gave after he's given the indicatives, he's given the imperatives in the full armor of God in Ephesians 6.

And what's in there?

Read the Bible, pray.

I'm just paraphrasing.

Do you really need Netflix?

How much are you paying for it?

And while you're watching, and you're you feel guilty, you feel bad because you have subscription that you have to pay, yet you're not using it, and so you would use it.

At the expense of what?

At the expense of your time with the Lord?

At the expense of your prayer life.

Prepare wisely.

Prepare wisely.

I'm conscious of time.

Prepare diligently.

Prepare humbly, prepare wisely, prepare diligently.

With diligence, with consistency, willing to put in the effort, the time needed so that you are prepared.

If you are a student facing academic battles, you don't finish the assessment, the project the night before it's due.

Rather, you work on it bit by bit.

Juday this in six weeks' time, start now.

Otherwise, you'll be anxious and people around you will be affected.

But if you reconsider what happened six weeks ago, you will you've been lazing around.

Facing spiritual battles, we do need to put on the full armor of God, as the apostle Paul enumerated in Ephesians 6, and as I kind of touched on it already, you will struggle to put on the full armor of God if you are busy in Netflix.

You prepare humbly, you prepare wisely, you prepare diligently, you prepare, you then sorry, you then trust the Lord wholeheartedly.

Trust the Lord wholeheartedly.

Why?

Because despite of your preparations, you must face your battles in this life, trusting the Lord wholeheartedly, willing, so that you probably think I'm thinking I'm preaching prosperity gospel here.

Willing to accept the outcome of your every battle, trusting that the Lord is never wrong, never unkind.

At times, the outcome of your battle after your preparations and after praying and trusting the Lord would be exactly how you'd like it to be, could be exactly how you'd like it to be, healing from a physical disease, praise the Lord for that.

Restoration of your relationship, restoration of your marriage, praise the Lord for that.

Deliverance from a financial bondage, praise the Lord for that.

But brothers and sisters, at times victory may mean battling with endurance, not seeing, not knowing the end, yet holding your peace, maintaining your joy, growing in your faith, growing in your love for the Lord, and growing in your love for his word.

We prepare, but we trust the Lord for victory.

I began with an absolute statement.

You and I face battles in this life, that's the reality.

I close with an unshakable truth that should give us all hope and peace as we face battles in this life.

We do not face battles in this life alone.

We have the one true God on our side.

Our Heavenly Father promised to never leave us, to never forsake us.

The Son of God promised to continually forever intercede for us before the throne of the Father.

And the Holy Spirit indwells you and me.

Brothers and sisters, you do not face battle alone.

And we have each other.

We have the body of Christ, we have the means of grace.

And thankfully, one day, the intruder who is the cause of all battles will be forever banished.

And all battles will be ended for good.

All followers of Christ will be in God's presence in the heavenly city on the new heaven and the new earth, where the word battle has no place.

Shalom is once again restored.

Everything will be as God intended it from the beginning.

King of heavens, a triune God with his people, dwelling in peace forever.

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.

Would you join me in prayer?

You do know all the battles that we face, every single one of us here today.

I now pray, I now ask for your upholding grace, for your deliverance according to your will.

I also pray that my brothers and sisters will do their part, yet ultimately trust you for victory.

I pray in Christ's name.

Amen.