“Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?”
I don’t always use the word foe in my every day vernacular but I just like how this is stated. A foe is any enemy or opponent, and in this life, the only opponent we truly have is the devil (who is also God’s foe).
Paul said in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” And what I’ve learned is that if we don’t fight these (meaning the principles and powers of darkness), then we’ll fight flesh and blood (people).
Not God’s intent.
However, God didn’t create us to fight one another. He created and designed us to be on one side– His side. And not just on His side, but from His side; from His heart.
I love how Paul was inspired to encourage the Romans with this truth: “We know all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). It was just a few sentences later when he summed up his thoughts with the question, “So who can be our foe, if God is on our side?”
God’s first intent was for us to know His love.
When we know and believe the love that God has for us, what foe (opponent) can knock us down? As the Word says, “The righteous may fall seven times, but he rises back up” (Proverbs 24:16). What causes that man or woman to rise again is the knowledge and confidence they have in the Lord their God.
But notice Paul said all things work together for the good of those who love God. So it’s not enough to know He loves us, we must have a reciprocating love for God as well. But that’s not hard either for scripture tells us, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
In other words, the only reason I know love is because I’m loved. The only way I can reciprocate love is because love has been poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
This is our confidence.
The love of God convinces me that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good. God intentionally causes everything to work together for good.
This doesn’t mean we won’t face challenges and setbacks. Just the opposite actually– it’s the knowledge that God is on our side that helps us face such things.
“What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). It’s a shift of thinking; a hold of faith to think this way. But that’s what faith does– it believes in something bigger and greater than what is happening in the natural world around us.
I’m reminded of the story of Elisha and his servant. When surrounded on every side by an army with horses and chariots, the servant asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17).
Hallelujah! We have the same God! My prayer is for God to help us see too. For when we can see and believe these things through the eyes of faith, nothing is impossible!
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