Not To The Swift or Strong – EP78 (Ecc 9:11)
Ecclesiastes 9:11
The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong...
Hello and welcome back to the One Thing podcast. If we were to take a step back for a moment and look at the world, and look at our nation and so many things happening. There are battles that people are fighting whether it be a political battle, whether it be battles amongst nations and national leaders. All across the world we know that there are constant battles, that there are constant stir-ups, in which there are faceoffs and in all reality, we can always wonder: Who's gonna win? What's gonna be the outcome, or what will happen, what kind of decision is going to be finalized? And this is a huge part of life. We know that this happens on a daily basis maybe in our spiritual lives where there are battles that are to be fought. It happens on a national level, it happens all throughout the world and we know that there are battles to be fought, and there will always be one winner.
"...what is the hope for the Christian(?)...it's found in the Word of the Lord."And so, what is the hope for the Christian - what kind of mindset are we to be armed with? What kind of thought process are we to reflect on? Well, it's found in the Word of the Lord.
In Ecclesiastes, chapter 9 verse 11 it says, “...The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,…” This reminds me of David versus Goliath. David probably wasn't as swift as Goliath who was a giant. He was a trained warrior, who was over 6 foot tall! He was a giant! And I'm sure that David, in a physical sense, would be considered a lot slower - maybe not really the ideal one to fight this huge massive warrior. But what do we know? We know that because David had God's favor, he won. In the end because he was all about the Lord's Name because his heart was with God, and to bring Him glory, we know that God was with him, and that God had called who was going to win this battle, and it was His servant.
"We know that the battle and the race is given to those who have God's favor."When we think about this when we reflect - when we realize that the race is not to the person who is fastest, whether physically or spiritually we can think about that - the battle isn't given to the strongest, the one with the most money, the one with the best physical stature, or the most popularity. We know that the battle and the race is given to those who have God's favor. The one who is blessed by God in our everyday battles - whether it be again on a personal level, whether it be a battle with amongst the nations whether it be a battle from good and evil - we know that the race is not to the swift, the battle is not to the strong. It's not to the one who does what they can do only in their flesh. It's not to the one who simply has enough intelligence to kinda get through and get by. We know that it is only in the hands of the Lord.
What battles do you face today? What race are you in? What battles are we finding in our nation happening right now or all throughout the world? What kind of mindset should we have? What is our hope? We know that only God is the victor, and He is the only one that we can look to.
I pray today that we would ask God for His favor - on our lives, on our families, on our church. That we would ask for God's favor over our nation, and that His favor would be moving all throughout the earth to those who are calling upon His Name. For we know that in this race toward God - this race, which is really about coming to Christ and coming out of darkness - is not to the swift but it's only given to those who are in Christ. We know that the battles that are raging every single day are truly - when we really look at it - battles of good and evil, the force of heaven, the force of Jesus against the force of darkness, the world, flesh, and satan.
"May we find favor that is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ...knowing that with us with God, one is more than enough."And today, may we find favor with God. May we find favor that is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ that like David, we too may face Goliath - maybe we may face an entire army - but knowing that with us with God, one is more than enough. With the Lord we have everything.
So, I pray today that in every battle that we find ourselves in, every prayer that we begin to lift up, that we would be clothed and covered in the favor of God, knowing that the battle belongs to the Lord. Knowing that as we run this race, we shall not falter or fail, because God is with us and we are to bring glory to His Name.
So, like David, may we come in the Name of the Lord. May we pray. May we seek. May we call upon His Name, and may God today lead us through this race, and lead us through every battle. God bless. Amen.