“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”” -Genesis 3:1 NIV
Ever since the garden of Eden, the enemy of our souls has been using the same tactics, doubts, lies and attacks to turn us away from God. The essence of these attacks can be summed up in one statement: God is not good, he cannot be trusted and he is holding out on you.
The battle of the Christian life is a battle to believe that God is indeed good, his word and promises are true, and he is not holding out on us…no matter our circumstances and regardless of any situation we ever go through in life.
Therefore, the most powerful weapon we posses and most worshipful act of faith we can exercise is declaring and believing that God is indeed good.
It may sound very simple, but the power of this declaration could not be more profound. A great example of this is found in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. In this chapter, the Israelite’s are about to be attacked by an army far greater than their own. They had no human chance of success and had every reason to despair.
But what happens next is one the most beautiful and moving scenes in all the Bible. The king, along with all the people, gather together before the Lord and in humility they confess they have no idea what to do but their eyes are on the Lord to deliver them.
Then, a prophetic word comes forth. The word was that God would indeed fight for them. God was going to take this situation personally!
The next day they were to march out without fear or intimidation and face the enemy. But it would not be with human weapons or human wisdom that they would fight. Rather, they sent the worship team out in front of the enemy to sing a very simple chorus. Verse 21 says After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”
As they declared God’s ever faithful, never failing goodness, God began to do exactly what he promised and began to fight for his people granting then victory over their enemies. In the end, God not only protected and provided but the people plundered the enemies camp instead of being pummeled by the enemy!
It’s not confidence in our abilities we need, but confidence in God’s goodness, character, promises and word.
The Psalmist in verse 13 and 14 of chapter 27 made this declaration of faith: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
No matter what you are facing or going through, declare your faith in the goodness of God. No matter your circumstances worship him and believe that he is good! Trust that he will fight on your behalf.
More than anything, the enemy wants to convince you that God is not good. He wants you to believe his lie that God is holding out on you and isn’t faithful to his word and promise. And so, more than anything, it blesses God when we declare our faith in Him and his goodness, even when we can’t “see” that goodness. This is after all when faith is most real, most needed and most pleasing to God. The very definition of faith is being “certain of what we don’t see.” (Hebrews 11:1).
And whenever we doubt, we need only look to the cross. As the apostle Paul put it: “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” -Romans 8:31-32 NIV
Ben Foley 