“When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it … and the LORD brought about a great victory.” 2 Samuel 23:11-12
Don’t know who this man Shammah was but he was something! A troop comes upon him and all his colleagues flee in fear. The most logical thing for him to do was turn tail and run. He surely couldn’t take on a whole army single-handedly. But something rises up in him, and he MAKES it his responsibility to simply stand. That he was likely throwing away his life did not matter. To stand was what mattered.
Notice the passage doesn’t go into much description about the fighting. It does very forcefully state that he “took his stand”. There are a whole host of situations where the issue is not how we will fight, but rather, will we take a stand? That is the primary decision; the fighting is secondary.
We may be weak in many ways. We may be prone to pressure placed on us by circumstances or the devil and we just go under it. Perhaps our lives are beaten up because of this tendency. Maybe we chronically submit to depression or laziness or lust. Will we take a faith-stance against these destructive forces?
We may be in the most ordinary of moments. We may have no encouragement around us. But neither did Shammah. Who really cares about a field of lentils? There are plenty of such fields in the land. Why fuss over this particular one? Not only did Shammah not have ENcouragement, he positively had DIScouragement when he looked around and could only see the backs of his friends getting smaller.
But Shammah made a definite decision of his will. He would stop yielding ground to the Philistines, and it would begin in his field of lentils. The result? Not just the preservation of a little field of beans, but victory for the nation against its enemies. All that from simply taking a stand.
God will do the same for you. But you must take a stand of faith.
Blessings,
GodCares.tv