Enough to Win

God is up to something special.  I can feel it in the atmosphere.  Things are different.  A change is on the horizon.  Although I often feel that I don’t have enough or that I’m not enough, God is constantly telling me something different.  Before 2019, I don’t ever remember hearing about Jael.  She’s a notable woman in the Bible, but if you’re reading straight through, just for reading’s sake, you’re likely to skip over her.  There aren’t many verses that tell her story.  She doesn’t have much, but she has just enough to win.

Sunday’s sermon came from Judges 4:14-24.  We’re introduced to the prophetess Deborah.  She is speaking to Barak.  Barak is a military commander that has been commissioned by God to lead an army of ten thousand in battle against the Canaanites.  The children of Israel are at war with Canaan.  They are engaging in ongoing battles with Sisera, the leader of the Canaanite army.  When these verses start. Deborah is reminding Barak that he has been called into battle.

Although Barak has been called to war with an army of ten thousand men on his side, he has a request.  He doesn’t want to go into battle without Deborah by his side.  In my mind, the size of his army alone should be enough to make him ready for battle.  But he’s not working with my mind.  He’s working with his.  And he believes that having the prophetess on his side will be more than enough to win the battle.  Deborah consents and goes with him.

The battle is going well.  It’s going so well that Sisera’s army takes a savage beating.  While many leaders are committed to going down with the ship, that is NOT Sisera’s motto.  He abandons the fight and runs to neutral territory.  There he finds himself at the tent of Jael.  Jael assures Sisera that he has nothing to fear.  Sisera accepts a drink from Jael.  He is comfortable.  After all, this is neutral ground.  He falls asleep.  Jael takes a tent peg and her hammer and drives it through Sisera’s temple while he sleeps.  He never saw it coming.  Canaan is defeated with a tent peg and hammer.

It’s worth noting that this is not the end that Sisera saw for himself.  He has been fighting men with swords.  He’s been racing around in chariots.  Jael’s tent seemed like a welcome refuge after a raging war.  But on that day, Jael decided that being neutral was no longer an option.  Evil showed up at her tent.  She decided to be on the side of right.  And although she didn’t have a sword or fancy chariots, she believed that she had enough to win.  And she was right.

In less than a year, I have heard Jael’s story three times from three different people.  That is not a coincidence or happenstance.  I’m convinced that God wants me to know that the little that I have is more than enough to win.  And that is not prophecy for a future time.  It’s revelation for this very moment.  I have enough to win RIGHT NOW.  I believe He wants you to know the same thing.

Pastor said that we “settle for the suitable when God prepared the supernatural.”  I dare you to trust God with every part of yourself.  He’s a God of miracles, signs, and wonders.  Things that we consider to be insignificant become life-changing when we place them in His hands.  They become more than enough to win.  #wepreach

Questions to Ponder:

• How can your occupation be used to glorify God?
• What skills do you have?
• Do you find yourself thinking that your skill set is not impressive?
• Do you struggle with thinking that you are not enough?
• Be intentional about being a blessing to someone else this week. Buy someone a coffee, send a nice text, or leave an anonymous positive message for someone. The choice is yours. That small token could be just enough to make someone feel like a winner.