Doing the Hard Thing in an Evil World

As men, as Christian men, sometimes God calls us to do the hard things.

But, what is doing the hard thing? It is doing the right thing. It is the way of righteousness, godliness, and biblical truth. It’s honoring Jesus, His Word, and standing strong in our faith about what the Word says . . . despite what the whole world says to the contrary.

But doing the right thing IS the hard thing, precisely because it is MOST OFTEN the lonely thing.

In an ungodly world, standing for what is right and true and godly most often means standing completely alone and unsupported, against the world, against popular opinion, alone in your circle of friends, alone in your home, at work, and even, sadly, sometimes at church. Standing for your faith-filled Christian convictions will most always make you the odd man out. It is difficult. It is trying. It is terrifying. And it can seem impossible.

But, there is a GREAT REWARD for those who stand strong. To those who persevere through the difficult trial. To those who do not waver, capitulate, or compromise. The Scriptures say that having done all, we are to stand . . . we are to stand in the Word of Truth, being clothed in the Spirit, knowing that Jesus has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.

The Book of Revelation exhorts believers eight times with the phrase “To the one who conquers”—promising incredible rewards to those who endure.

We are called to persevere, to conquer, to overcome. 1 John 5:4 says this,

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

As we consider this theme of persevering faith, I want to briefly reflect on a snapshot of the lives of four biblical men and their example of faith-filled courage in the face of incredibly impossible circumstances:

Elijah

He was a prophet called of God. He is presented as being alone. He was sent away and exiled from his people, who had fallen into the most grievous form of idolatry and Baal worship. Nevertheless, when called, he boldly returned and appeared in front of King Ahab’s court, all alone . . . who had searched the entire region, seeking to kill him.

Elijah single-handedly entered into a contest with the entire entourage of the false prophets of Baal and the undecided people.

“So Ahab sent to ALL the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. ²¹ And Elijah came near to ALL the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word [crickets].”  1 Kings 18:20-21

There was no one there to help him. He had no group of friends or assistants in his corner. This contest hinged on which God would answer by fire from heaven to consume the two presented sacrifices, either Baal or Yahweh. In this contest, Elijah’s life hung in the balance. If he had failed, he surely would have been put to a cruel public death. And yet he steadfastly trusted his God, believing that the prophets of Baal would fail and that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (the God of the living! See 1 Kings 18:36 and Mark 12:26-27) would surely answer him. And God certainly did . . . the fire fell from heaven and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water that was in the trench. Everything was consumed.

And thus, Elijah’s faith prevailed over the entire wicked multitude, and the people’s hearts were graciously turned back to the One true God.

David

David, a young shepherd boy, was sent by his father, Jesse, to check up on his brothers who were at the battlefront of a fearful engagement with the Philistines. When David arrived at the scene, he witnessed a terrifying spectacle… the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name (9-10’ tall).

And the Scriptures here makes this amazing statement:  “ALL the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much/sore afraid.”  1 Samuel 17:24  (Remember Elijah)

Here we have another servant of God, standing up against ALL the people.

Our text says that ALL the men were [Heb – MEOD] utterly, dreadfully, exceedingly, strongly, violently, forcefully afraid! They were 100% terrified. These hardened, battle-worn warriors were melting away from this guy in complete and utter terror.

But why? Because Goliath wasn’t merely a tall human man. The Bible tells us he was of the Rephaim, a demonic hybrid monster descended from the Nephilim, a race of beings associated with the Genesis 6 account of the Watchers (rebellious angels) who descended and took wives for themselves, creating giants / men of renown and a ferocious race of wicked people who were full of demonic powers and superhuman abilities.

(By the way, this was the reason for the Flood. The human bloodline had been infiltrated and corrupted by non-human seed. This is also why God instructed Joshua to completely wipe these people out in the conquest of Canaan. God wasn’t a bloodthirsty deity, as modern liberals would have us believe. Rather, this hybrid race was NOT the original human image-bearers as created by God. They were vile monsters. Hybrids. Child sacrificers, cannibals, necromancers, diviners, sorcerers, violent and bloodthirsty beasts. Merciless and cruel oppressors of normal human beings.

Numbers 13:33 says – “And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” 

We are told that this Goliath monster had 6 fingers and 6 toes. And other ancient documents describing the Giants tell us that they also had a double row of teeth. He probably looked more like a hideous cave troll than just a large human being.

Other ancient accounts that document the barbaric cruelty of the Giants tell us that this Goliath would probably have executed his victim slowly and mercilessly while eating bits of him as he taunted the opposing force.

And yet here is David, all alone, just like Elijah, facing off against an impossible foe, in an impossible situation, over and against ALL the people who were now cowering in terror. And what do we see?

An incredible, hardly-to-be-believed faith of a little shepherd boy . . .

“You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a Javelin, but I come to you in the NAME of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

Oh Christian brothers!  We need to come at our enemies in the NAME above all names, Jesus Christ, King of kings, and Lord of lords!

And with a single stone, slung out of the shepherd’s sling, David’s faith prevailed over the Giant. 

(The smashing of the forehead . . . is most likely an example of the Bible’s subtle in-your-face humor, no pun intended! The forehead was considered the place of the “third eye” / demonic divination / seeing / soothsaying . . . associated with the pagan mystery religions of that region. It’s like God was saying, “You want to divine something, O Wicked One? Here’s this Stone. The Rock of Israel. Right in your face. Let that sink in!”)

Daniel

We read that Daniel was one of the exiles of Judah who was taken to Babylon when Jerusalem was sacked and taken captive by the Babylonians. He was also a chosen servant of God, a seer, a wise man, and a prophet.

In Daniel 6, we read that Daniel had become distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps in the kingdom “because an excellent Spirit was in him” – the Holy Spirit. The king had planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

But then, just like Elijah and David, we read that all of the other presidents, prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors conspired to kill Daniel and take him out of the way. It was Daniel against the entire hostile multitude.

They hurriedly wrote a temporary bylaw which prohibited anyone in the entire kingdom from praying to any other god or man, except to the king, at the threat of being cast into a den of hungry lions.

And what does Daniel do in response to this?

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”  Daniel 6:10

Daniel’s defiant knowing here was rooted in a steadfast and unwavering courage that was fueled by his faith in God that He would certainly deliver him. And He did. The men came and found him praying. They cast him into the den. But God’s angel shut the mouths of the lions, and Daniel was not harmed.

“My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”  Dan 6:22

Daniel had a confident KNOWING of God, His character and faithfulness, in the face of his trial.  His faith prevailed over the entire Kingdom and the devouring lions.

Joshua

Joshua was tasked with the immense responsibility of replacing Moses and leading the entire host of Israel out of the wilderness to conquer the promised land of Canaan. He was tasked with an impossible feat. The small band of Israelites coming up out of the wilderness was probably outnumbered 1,000 to 1, if not more. And these cities were full of those nasty giant clans (the great-grandfathers of Goliath).

And yet Joshua went forward by faith, believing that the God of Israel who had called him would certainly do it.

And at the point of crossing over the Jordan into enemy territory we hear Joshua’s confident declaration before victory ensues:

“For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that ALL the people may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”  Joshua 4:23-24

And it is here that we find a beautiful prophetic symmetry between Joshua’s words and those of Elijah and David immediately before they won their respective victories:

Elijah

“O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 1 Kings 18:36-37

David

This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”  1 Samuel 17:46-47

All of these men had an intimate and confident knowing of God, His Word, His character, His promises, and longed for others to know Him too.

And finally, let’s not forget the beautiful Savior, who came to fulfill all the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets in Himself . . . this Jesus, at the moment of His victorious triumph over sin, death, and hell on the cross . . . the Word says this:

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up His spirit.” John 19:28-30

Brothers, get this. Be overcomers in Jesus! He overcame the entire world in His triumphal death on the cross. Cling to Him. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a confident, KNOWING, world-defying faith that courageously stands alone on the authority of God’s Word, in the power of the Gospel, for His singular glory. And He will give you the victory! Just like Elijah, David, Daniel, and Joshua. Remember, it’s not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the LORD of Hosts.