Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

I Kings 20:28

The Arameans were enemies of the Israelites and had just lost a battle with them resulting in a great slaughter. The king of Aram believed that they lost because God was with the Israelites in the mountains but perhaps not in the valleys and so they planned another attack the following year.  This time in the valley. So many Arameans filled the surrounding country that the Israelites were “like two little flocks of goats.” The plan didn’t work however; 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers were killed in that battle and the 27,000 that fled were killed when a wall fell on them.  God delivered the Israelites just as He promised.

What is the enemy that has surrounded you? Pain, loss, disease, fear, financial pressures, uncertainty about the future, addiction? Our God is a mighty God, not just in the high places of our lives – the times when all is going well, when we are at the top of our game, but the God of the low points, the times when we feel surrounded by a vast army and all alone. Sometimes, I’ll admit, when the pain is closing in on me and I can barely walk or breath because of its intensity, it becomes easy to think I am all alone, surrounded like so many little goats. But this verse tells me otherwise. There is no enemy greater than my God. No enemy that He can’t send fleeing. No moment when I am alone left to defend myself all by myself.

The attack on the Israelites did not surprise God.  He wasn’t taken off guard, He wasn’t left scratching His head and wondering, now what?  Whatever has come against you has not taken Him off guard.  He is watching over you and He knows the pathway to victory.  Your path may not look like mine or vice versa.  I hope, however, that you (and I) can rest in the knowledge that God still keeps His promises and He still delivers His people. 

What more can I say than what You have already said? You are with me, You walk by my side and You send the enemy of pain packing. Thank You for being my Shepherd and my Defender, my Comforter and my Healer and my Ever-Present Help in time of need. Thank You for the high places where vision is clear and victory assured. Thank You for being with me in the low places when pain is bigger than my vision and victory seems less assured. Forgive me for the times of doubting Your goodness. Amen.