Deuteronomy 20-21
When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
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Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, “Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.”
Deuteronomy 20:1,5
In Deuteronomy 20:6-8, Moses goes on to provide additional reasons for letting a man go back to his house and avoid battle. But think about all of that. In the first verse we are assured that the nation as a whole need not be afraid because “the LORD your God is with you.” Yet the implication of the latter verses is that there nevertheless remains the very real possibility of warriors dying in battle. And, of course, that reality remains today: I am quite confident, for example, that the LORD was very much responsible for the victory of the Allies over the Axis powers in World War II, but thousands upon thousands of soldiers never came home, and thousands more were wounded; I am also quite confident that many of those who died were faithful Christians who were far more godly than many of those who came through the battles safe and sound.
So what does any of that have to do with those of us who have no experience of military combat? Plenty. We are all engaged in spiritual warfare (whether we realize it or not), and oftentimes that warfare manifests itself in very real suffering. Yet we Christians so often seem to think that if God is “on our side” then life should be easy and pain free, and if it is not, then either God isn’t doing His job or else our suffering is the result of sin in our lives. Admittedly, sometimes we do suffer the natural consequences of sin in our lives, but that certainly does not account for all, or even most, suffering experienced by the Christian. Consider Paul, for example, and all that he went through. (Just take a look at II Corinthians 11:24-27.) Do you think all that suffering was the result of sin on Paul’s part or unfaithfulness on God’s part? Hardly.
What I am saying here is that many of us (myself included) need to mature in our thinking, particularly with regard to our own suffering. We need to develop a deeper faith, one that trusts in God and His steadfast love and faithfulness, one that is not disturbed by difficult circumstances, loss, or suffering. Let’s dive in. Let’s go deeper.