Don’t Surrender!

In my last blog, I shared some of the horrific things that are happening to our children and youth in schools, the media, the government and, even, in Christian churches and schools. If you haven’t done so already, please read my last article before proceeding further.

I have found myself spending more time in God’s Word and prayer each day since posting that article. My heart has been further broken with more evidence of Satan’s efforts to destroy the family, control the state and weaken the church — especially when it comes to the education of our children in the home, church and school.

It has been heart wrenching to read where we are as a society. Just a few of the items that have come across my desk over the past couple of days include:

• • An article describing how one parent’s teenage daughter decided she was trans and so have ALL her friends — not some of them or even most of them — but every single one of them.
  • A dad of two teenage boys who read to a school board word for word examples of what the school is making available to them. The language and sexual activities’ description are too graphic for me to include in this post.
  • There are growing occurrences of people “celebrating” abortions. One social media post read, Abortion is healthcare. And also traumatic so if you do have one, please gather all of your closest friends after to celebrate. Be around endless love and happiness for your decision. Thanks for everyone who came last night. Another post stated, Abortion havers deserve to celebrate. Join me in celebrating my 2 abortions next weekend! My friend is throwing me an abortion shower.
  • A feminist author criticized the idea for more mothers to be at home rather than pursuing a career. She wrote, The carer/earner nuclear family model we think of as “traditional” is a historical anomaly that is tremendously isolating and often financially devastating for the carer (almost always a woman). It also reinforces the gendered division of labor, which ripples out to all women…More mothers at home makes for worse, more sexist men who see women as mommies and helpmeets. Men with stay-at-home wives are more sexist than men with working wives; they don’t assess women’s workplace contributions fairly; and they are less likely to hire and promote women. She went on to write, [full-time mothers] are psychologically and emotionally worse off than working mothers by just about every measure.

When I take time to examine where we are as a country, I find it easy to become discouraged. This is even more true when I see how today’s Christian homes and churches have succumbed to the pressure and have become mere carbon copies of the secular society in which we all live. It is easy to be overwhelmed, think that we have fallen too far, and that there is no hope to turn things around. This is when I say to myself, BUT GOD!!!

This same feeling of hopelessness must have been in the minds of three of Judah’s kings. King Abijah faced terrible odds when confronted by a civil war with Israel. Judah began this war with 400,000 valiant warriors. However, Israel drew up into battle formation with 800,000 chosen men who were also valiant warriors. Judah prevailed over Israel.

Then, King Asa faced an attack by the Ethiopians. Even though Asa was able to assemble an army of 580,000 men, Zerah, the Ethiopian, had a million men and 300 chariots. Even against those odds, Judah was victorious.

Jehoshaphat succeeded Asa as king. Like his predecessors, Jehoshaphat faced a huge army from Moab and Ammon. The King saw no way out of this terrible condition. Surely, Judah would not be able to survive this attack. However, not only did Judah survive, but Judah didn’t even have to fight. Why? Because God fought the battle for them.

How did Judah survive these wars when it seemed like there was no hope? What caused God to take action and bring victory to the underdog, Judah, in each of these cases? As I studied 2 Chronicles 13-20, I found some common practices of these three kings of Judah that resulted in God doing some miraculous works.

1. All three kings trusted in the Lord. They knew that they were not strong enough to win on their own. Their only hope was to trust God (2 Chronicles 13:18; 14:11; 20:12).
2. Each of these kings cried out to God. In their prayers to God, they recognized Him as the God of the universe that knows all and has all power (2 Chronicles 13:14; 14:11; 20:6-12).
3. These kings had led Judah to throw away all their idols and obeyed God (2 Chronicles 13:10-12; 15:8-18; 17:3-6; 20:32).

Jehoshaphat did something else that is noteworthy. He developed an educational system or process so that all of Judah was taught about God — who He was and what He expected of His people. In 2 Chronicles 17, Jehoshaphat selected officials who would teach truth to all the people.

So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people. 2 Chronicles 17:9 (NKJV)

The results that Judah experienced were amazing.

And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 17:10 (NKJV)

There is a marvelous truth that is key to seeing God bring us victory in the face of insurmountable odds. This truth is found in the words of Hanani, the prophet, that he spoke to Asa. It is important to see the back story that led up to Hanani’s prophetic words.

Even though Asa had seen firsthand how God had given Judah victory over the Ethiopian army, he didn’t trust God when faced with another war. Instead Asa made a treaty with the king of Aram. This alliance stopped an attack on Judah but also led to Asa’s downfall. Hanani told Asa,

And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.” 2 Chronicles 16:7-8 (NKJV)

Then, Hanani said,

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJV)

The home, church and school are facing a large and powerful army. This army is made up of princes and powers of darkness and is led by Satan. The army’s objectives are to destroy the family, control the state and weaken the church. Caught in Satan’s crosshairs are our children. As I shared my last blog, the main fronts of this war are being waged in schools, the media and, even, the government.

We are vastly outnumbered and the hope of turning things around are dismal to say the least. In fact, it seems impossible to even think about winning. However, our only hope is to do what these three kings did.

1. We must trust God with all our heart, soul and mind.
2. We must cry out to God who is all powerful and is the sovereign King of the universe.
3. We must throw away all our idols and obey God completely. This is especially true for how the home, church and school educates children and youth.
4. We must teach the entire body of Christ who God is and what He wants from His people.

I must admit, it doesn’t seem possible. However, since God is immutable, His eyes are still going to and fro throughout the whole earth. He is looking for that remnant of parents, church leaders and educators whose hearts are loyal to Him. As He looks, will you be the one He finds so He can show Himself strong on your behalf?

I need your school to join me at one of this summer’s Kingdom Education™ Summits where we will address the issue of education biblically and develop strategies to engage parents, pastors, church leaders and Christian educators in making disciples of Jesus Christ. Find out more by clicking HERE.