Isaiah 59:19 From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.

You may wish to read the verse above in the New King James Version of the Bible as well. I am addressing this blog to those who have been called and sent out as preachers and missionaries. Some of you are in places you never expected to be, doing things you had no idea you would be capable of accomplishing. You have responded to Jesus’ commission to be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (See Acts 1:8). No doubt, you have been operating in the power of the Holy Spirit because Jesus made it clear that a mission such as yours should not be undertaken until you received the Holy Spirit. So there you are “at the ends of the earth” and I am sure there have been times when you have felt completely spent. The challenges are great and, indeed, the enemy has stood up to oppose everything you set out to do. What to do? Pray: “Lord I need you to send your Spirit to lift up a standard against the enemy in a hurry. I need you as never before.”

But do you know also that there are some battles you can’t fight by yourself? Do you know that the Lord has an army and that he can dispatch angels to dismantle the enemy’s plans or dictate a new strategy? Read about Joshua’s experience in Joshua 5. As the leader of God’s people he had just crossed over Jordan with them. He knew what victory felt like, they had celebrated. But ahead of him was a new challenge – he needed to enter Jericho, a walled city. For him to conquer it, that wall had to come down. As he came near to Jericho he met a man with his sword drawn for battle. Joshua asked him “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither”, he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

You have answers and encouragement for everyone else, but if in this moment you need encouragement, be mindful that there are unseen forces at work against God’s purposes, so sometimes it is not about you. Step back and let God deploy his own army. The Spirit of the Lord is reminding you:

“Know that there are battles that the Lord himself will fight for you.”