Day Fourteen: For God, Victory is Easy!

Have you ever tried to help a child while they tried to help you help them? Not so easy is it?

“Mommy will you button my jacket for me?” my daughter implored, looking sweetly up at me with clear, trusting eyes of love.

“Sure,” I said, and leaned down to start on the top button. But as soon as I did she began to work from the bottom, matching the last button to the second to the last buttonhole, twisting and jerking the coat repeatedly from my grip with her efforts.

“It’s not working, Mom. I need your help!”

To which I responded that I could help her much better if she would take her hands off the coat and let me work. It’s so much easier that way.

And so it goes. Like when we bring our problems to the Lord for help. First, He has to remind us He can handle it, and sometimes even pry our hands loose from the things we bring to Him. Only then can He do His work. What seems impossible to us is easy for God.

God told the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom to go to war against the king of Moab. Their route led them through a wilderness where they were without water for seven days and they panicked. They were ready to admit defeat and go back home, until they asked God’s prophet Elisha to find out what He wanted them to do.

Elisha said, “This is what the Lord says: This dry valley will be filled with pools of water!  You will see neither wind nor rain, says the Lord, but this valley will be filled with water. You will have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals. But this is only a simple thing for the Lord, for he will make you victorious. You will conquer…”(2 Ki. 3:16-19, emphasis mine, NLT)

No water? No problem for God! The Bible, history, and current events prove nothing is too hard for Him: Power over the forces of nature? No problem. Power to heal sickness and cast out demons? Easy. Wisdom for any dilemma? He’s got it. Victory over any circumstance, even death? Simple. So why not lift our cares to Him and let go?

The other day in the car I mentioned (even for this directionally challenged driver) that our route home from there was going to be “Easy Shmeezy.” From the back seat my four year old granddaughter joyfully repeated, “Easy Sneezy!” She liked the sound of it so well that her mom and I heard the singsong phrase over and over for the next few miles. Oh, that we would so joyfully give our problems to God, for whom everything is Easy Shmeezy!

I know I don’t always understand His ways. Sometimes He doesn’t bring victory as quickly as I would like, or the way I think He should. His plan can even look like a bad idea halfway through. Sometimes He pushes us into action when we want Him to do it all for us, and other times He tells us, “I’ve got this, child, take your hands off the buttons.” Whatever route He takes us, even through the wilderness, if we will listen and follow His directions, He will make us victorious.