When I worked for a union shop as a mechanical insulator, I was nominated by my peers to be shop steward. This volunteer role was structured to be a liaison between the workers and the union to resolve conflicts between the shop and workers. If the shop violated the collective bargaining agreement to the detriment of the workers, should the shop refuse to address the grievance it fell to me to contact the union so they could step in and resolve the issue. It wasn't long until I was called upon to act in the best interest of workers who were being taken advantage of.
In my idealistic youth I imagined the union brass would be keen to stand up on behalf of members who were ill-used by their employer. I discovered quite the opposite, that the union laboured to keep good relations with shops by ignoring issues raised in the fear they shops would go non-union. During a conversation with a union business representative it was evident he lacked any desire to follow up the complaint and said with a sigh, "Ben, you gotta chose your battles." Instantly I fired back to him, "Well, I chose this one. How about you start doing the job the members are paying you to do?"
The approach of "choosing our battles" is common. We might identify a losing battle, a pointless or an unnecessary battle. There are many battles which could be justly fought, but we only want to expend effort when we can win and the potential benefit justifies the cost. There might be a million justifiable battles and because we cannot fight them all we must choose the most worthy ones. Every battle we fight requires a certain amount of personal investment, whether the conflict involves nations, a union contract dispute, or one of a personal and private nature. The Bible sheds much light on battles which is foreign to the world. Because God fights for His people He is able to accomplish impossible victories no one walking in their own strength would ever dare attempt. In faith in God Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt without a fight, David slew the giant Goliath with a single stone when armed and amoured men fled at his voice, and Jesus defeated sin and death when He laid down His life on Calvary. God's battles and the way He fights them are uniquely His own.
In the book of Joshua God directed the Israelites to march around Jericho once a day for six days, and on the seventh day He commanded them to encircle the city seven times: at Joshua's command the people shouted and God caused the walls to fall down flat. After this miraculous and astonishing triumph, the children of Israel set their sights on Ai--a small city with only 12,000 inhabitants. The spies reported two or three thousand men was all it would take to defeat. Because of sin in the camp the 3,000 who approached the city fled in fear and 36 of them perished. After judgment of those who troubled the camp, Joshua 8:1 says, "Now the LORD said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." Instead of only mustering up a small fighting force for a small city, God commanded Joshua to muster all the fighting men of Israel which numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Of the entire army made ready a portion of them were chosen to fight as Joshua 8:3 reads: "So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night."
There are many valuable principles in this passage we can apply personally: to seek the LORD in what battle to fight, to obey God's leading in how to fight the battle, and that we do so with all our might--not only committing a fraction of our resources to the fight. This walk of faith in God requires all our effort, a complete commitment of readiness to obey. Because the battle is the LORD's it is always expedient to expend our energies according to His direction, for all our resources and abilities we possess have been provided by His grace. The battle which we are engaged in is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, against rulers of darkness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6). In the fight against Ai God directed the children of Israel to utilise military tactics, and though God has given us spiritual armour by the Holy Spirit it does not mean we intuitively know what battle to fight and how to fight it. Praise God the battle and victory is the LORD's and when He chooses a battle He enables and guides us to contend successfully.
In my idealistic youth I imagined the union brass would be keen to stand up on behalf of members who were ill-used by their employer. I discovered quite the opposite, that the union laboured to keep good relations with shops by ignoring issues raised in the fear they shops would go non-union. During a conversation with a union business representative it was evident he lacked any desire to follow up the complaint and said with a sigh, "Ben, you gotta chose your battles." Instantly I fired back to him, "Well, I chose this one. How about you start doing the job the members are paying you to do?"
The approach of "choosing our battles" is common. We might identify a losing battle, a pointless or an unnecessary battle. There are many battles which could be justly fought, but we only want to expend effort when we can win and the potential benefit justifies the cost. There might be a million justifiable battles and because we cannot fight them all we must choose the most worthy ones. Every battle we fight requires a certain amount of personal investment, whether the conflict involves nations, a union contract dispute, or one of a personal and private nature. The Bible sheds much light on battles which is foreign to the world. Because God fights for His people He is able to accomplish impossible victories no one walking in their own strength would ever dare attempt. In faith in God Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt without a fight, David slew the giant Goliath with a single stone when armed and amoured men fled at his voice, and Jesus defeated sin and death when He laid down His life on Calvary. God's battles and the way He fights them are uniquely His own.
In the book of Joshua God directed the Israelites to march around Jericho once a day for six days, and on the seventh day He commanded them to encircle the city seven times: at Joshua's command the people shouted and God caused the walls to fall down flat. After this miraculous and astonishing triumph, the children of Israel set their sights on Ai--a small city with only 12,000 inhabitants. The spies reported two or three thousand men was all it would take to defeat. Because of sin in the camp the 3,000 who approached the city fled in fear and 36 of them perished. After judgment of those who troubled the camp, Joshua 8:1 says, "Now the LORD said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land." Instead of only mustering up a small fighting force for a small city, God commanded Joshua to muster all the fighting men of Israel which numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Of the entire army made ready a portion of them were chosen to fight as Joshua 8:3 reads: "So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night."
There are many valuable principles in this passage we can apply personally: to seek the LORD in what battle to fight, to obey God's leading in how to fight the battle, and that we do so with all our might--not only committing a fraction of our resources to the fight. This walk of faith in God requires all our effort, a complete commitment of readiness to obey. Because the battle is the LORD's it is always expedient to expend our energies according to His direction, for all our resources and abilities we possess have been provided by His grace. The battle which we are engaged in is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, against rulers of darkness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6). In the fight against Ai God directed the children of Israel to utilise military tactics, and though God has given us spiritual armour by the Holy Spirit it does not mean we intuitively know what battle to fight and how to fight it. Praise God the battle and victory is the LORD's and when He chooses a battle He enables and guides us to contend successfully.
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