Judges 1.19 So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. [nkjv]
History is full of stories of people who never gave up. Colonel Sanders had the construction of a new road put him out of business in 1967. He went to over 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken recipe before he found a buyer interested in his 11 herbs and spices. Seven years later, at the age of 75, Colonel Sanders sold his fried chicken company for a finger-lickin' $15 million! Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded. Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. A man saw his drawings and gave him a nickel and told him not to give up. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” He was expelled and refused admittance to Zurich Polytechnic School. The University of Bern turned down his Ph.D. dissertation as being irrelevant and fanciful. When General Douglas MacArthur applied for admission to West Point, he was turned down, not once but twice. But he tried a third time, was accepted and marched into the history books. After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, said, “Can’t act! Slightly bald! Can dance a little!” Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Michael Jordan quote, "I've failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed." Thomas Edison is known as one of the most prolific inventors in history holding 1,093 U.S. patents as well as a lot of patents in the UK, France and Germany. When Thomas was 4 he was sent home from school with a note. The note told his mother that she was to remove her son from school because he was "too stupid to learn". Thomas' mother decided to teach him herself. With only 3 months of formal schooling he went on to create numerous inventions like the phonograph despite being partially deaf in one ear.
I could go on and on.
We all love stories about those who rise above formidable odds to achieve greatness and success. But what about those who try and fail. Charles Babbage invented the computer in 1837. He was unable to get funding for his device so it never caught on during his lifetime. It wasn't until 1943, long after Baggage's death, that computers really started to take off. How different would the world be today if Babbage had succeeded in popularizing the computer in his day?
Judah had no trouble facing the people on the hilltops. God was with them. But they failed to win the victory in the low lands. In fact they didn't even try! Had God changed His mind? Of course not, He was still with them. In fact He had commissioned Judah to the task of driving out the enemy. So what happened? Scripture records, the people of the lowlands had iron chariots. So in the face of such a formidable obstacle, Judah compromised. They didn't turn their back on God, they simply settled for less. Instead of seeing God's mighty hand of deliverance at work, what they felt they were powerless to conquer, they chose to coexist with.
There have been so many instance in my life where I've taken the easy road. Instead of taking that step of faith like I should, I pull back. The situation seems too big for me. The end result is that instead of walking in victory, I make peace with something God was asking me to remove. We coexist together. I forget that the same power which raised Christ Jesus from the dead now lives in me! That I am more than a conquerer through Him who loved me. I am distracted from the awesome truth that greater is He who lives in me than he who lives in the world. That with God nothing is impossible.
And I compromise. I settle for less.
I was reminded about this just today. We are in the process of buying a new home. This isn't our first time down this road. We bought a house a few years ago and recently sold it. But it is our first time building. We have a great finance guy arranging everything for us (let me give him a shameless plug). This is a step of faith for us as a family and we really believe God's hand is on it. We are relatively wise with our money. We tithe, we give, we pay all our bills on time and we save where we can. We have done our sums and even though this will stretch us, it is do-able.
Cathy's car was due for a service today and has been leaking some fluid (I am no mechanic, it's green, that's all I can tell you about it). I trust our mechanic and was blown away when he told us that to fix the problem would cost $1300! This is my iron chariot, literally! I'd like to say that I stood as a great man of faith, with unswerving confidence that God will supply all our needs. But I can't. My mind began racing with concerns, my demeanor shifted to one of defeat. My first response was to ring my finance guy immediately and put a stop to the whole 'building house process' as it now won't be as easy as we had originally planned.
I was prepared to settle for less.
As I began reading Judges, God began to speak to me through His Word! I could feel a renewed sense of victory filling my life again. It's amazing just how powerful God's Word is. It reminds us of the faithfulness of our God. Nothing is too difficult for our God.
Iron chariots are no problem for God. He is either the God of the hilltops AND the low lands or He is not God at all! I need to place my trust in Him and not allow what I see to cause me to settle for less than His best for my life.
Lord help me to be a person who continues in Your Word. Keep me focused on who You are. Your promises. Don't let me settle for anything less than Your best for my life. Help me to walk obediently to Your Word. Help me be a person who never gives up and who finishes well.
What verse stood out to you in this chapter?
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