At any given moment, we may be expected to defend our faith to others. I have generally found that when someone is asking me a question about my faith, it is not usually because of their genuine curiosity, but rather in order to mock or deride my beliefs. Nevertheless, God wants us prepared because we never know whose heart and lives may be touched by our answer.

One thing that keeps returning to my mind as I go out into the world each day (and I consider the whole world a battleground these days) is that the victory is God’s, not mine. I am a tool in His hands, not the only tool He uses and probably not the best one, but a tool, if I am only willing.

When Joshua was getting ready to go into Jericho and defeat it for the Lord, He met up with a spiritual being.

The commander of the army of the Lord is right there with Joshua. He would not have noticed him if he had not looked up. He didn’t immediately recognize him as friend or foe, but once the man identified himself, Joshua bowed in reverence and asked for the message that God had for him. How often have we faced insurmountable odds or people who present themselves as enemies and we forget to look up and recognize that the commander of God’s army is right beside us? We never go into battle alone!

God is the One who fights for us and He is the One who brings victory. We are expected to show up for battle, ready, with the sword of His spirit as our stalwart weapon. But we can know in advance that God goes with us, before us, beside us and behind us. He fights the battle as we, in obedience, go into a world that is increasingly anti-Christian. We don’t need to fear what the enemy can do to us; rather, we need to be praying for the souls of those we encounter because God will not always be mocked before He takes final action against them.

Our “horses” are ready when we have prayed, hidden God’s Word in our hearts and received the command from our Commander-in-Chief to “go.” His Word goes with us, His victory is assured. After all, the Lord’s army surrounds us, if we will only open our eyes to see.