Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines approached to fight against Israel. The Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel. (1 Samuel 7:10)
When you think of the Lord what comes to your mind? When I think of God I think immediately of three things: grace, mercy, everlasting love. I think of grace because God is a God who treats me better than I deserve. I think of mercy because God does not treat me like I deserve. I think of God’s everlasting love because his love for his people does not depend on the performance of his people but on his faithfulness to his promises. While there is never a time when we’d exhaust the goodness of God by mediating on those truths the important thing for us is God doesn’t just feel those things, God acts on those things. His grace, mercy, and love means that God fights for his people.
That’s right our God is a warrior. That’s what we see in 1 Samuel 7:10. During this time God’s people were not walking faithfully. They deserved to be punished. Despite God caring for them they served other gods. But when God calls his people to repentance through Samuel and the people repent he shows his strength. The people were afraid of the Philistine armies. But just as the army approaches to destroy them, “The Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines” and they were defeated by Israel. God fought on behalf of his people. They didn’t win because of their might or wisdom. They won because the God who created the universe was with them. And this was after a “burnt offering” offered by a guy named Samuel.
We might not have people trying to physically attack us, but all of us are fighting a spiritual battle against “cosmic powers of darkness.” On our own they are too much. On our own we would be overwhelmed. But we aren’t on our own. Because of God’s grace, mercy, and love he sent Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. He died, was buried, and rose again. His resurrection secured for his people victory over an enemy greater than the Philistine army. He secured victory over death. So when you think of God think about this: Whether in the face of physical foes, spiritual enemies, or even death know that God fights for you. And if God is for you, who can overwhelm you?