THE BATTLE
Life on earth is a battle in many ways. He, who does not realize this fact,
will never gain control over his life- situation.
Is there any help from the Bible to tackle life in the sense of Battle? Genesis
13 records Abraham's handling of a dispute between his servants &
Lot's servants, over property. Abraham displays a wise approach in dealing
with the problem, which can be used by us in the battles we face.
Abraham (then known as Abram), lived together with his nephew, Lot. Abraham had with him his wife, his servants and cattle. Lot also had his family, servants and livestock. As the days passed, there were disputes between the herdsmen of the two men that Abraham got worried and told Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you & me, for we are brothers." And Abraham asked Lot to choose which area he wanted to occupy, in their land. Lot chose the greener, well-watered side of Sodom. And Abraham accepted the more barren Canaan.
Three battle-winning steps we can derive from this passage are:
1. The Right Strategy
Abraham in Gen 13:18, is said to have "pitched his tent and built
God's altar".
The tent was a movable thing, but God's altar which was used by Abraham to worship
God, was made of concrete & was permanent. The tent represents our earthly
values & possessions, while the altar stands for our offering & the
importance we give to God. In today's world, we tend to "pitch
the altar & build our tent", thus changing priorities. This
was clearly not the strategy adopted by Abraham, who spent more of his time
& resources for serving God rather than himself.
2. Know Your Enemy
Amidst the chaos & friction between the two sides, Abraham made this point
clear to Lot:-
You are my brother, not my enemy!
At many times, we get short-sighted to situations in life that we look upon
our brothers with hatred. We will only end up fighting the wrong enemy and get
nowhere!
3. Know Your God
As they divided the land between them, Lot chose the well-watered plain of Sodom,
leaving the drier Canaan for Abraham. Eventually, Lot regretted having made
the decision, for the people living in Sodom were filled with evil that God
himself destroyed the land later.
Abraham did not mind going to a barren land, because he knew that the secret of blessing and prosperity was not in having land & rain, but in following God.
And 2000 years after that, Paul , who also followed these principles, writes in 2 Timothy 4:7-8,
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there is laiid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give to me on that Day, and not to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."