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Victory in Jesus

I have been thinking about this lately. I should prepare. That is an exceptionally good thing. But I have no victory without Jesus my Master.

Do I see this as much as I should? No, I do not. I trust in my preparations and plans. I have it all planned out. Or so I think.

It is so simple but so hard some days.

  • I want to run in and “fix” things.
  • Holding back for the LORD’s will and wisdom is needed so very much.
  • In His new plan, the victory is His always.

May the victory always rest with Yahweh and not my preparation.

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against Yahweh [the Lord]. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to Yahweh [the Lord].

ESV (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Proverbs 21:30–31

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The war horse is both strong and constrained, a symbol of human power. Riders can harness a horse and even prepare it for battle, but victory belongs to Yahweh, not the one who pulls the reins.

Common to this proverb and the one before is the theme of human effectiveness—intellectual effort in preparing and planning and physical prowess. The two proverbs name different but related errors: The first and most obvious is to go against God; the second and more subtle, to forget to thank God for victory and trust in your own foresight and strength.

The parallelism in both verses reminds the reader of the mysterious relationship between human initiative and divine purposes that have come to the forefront in this second half of the collected proverbs.

As we consider how great Jesus is, let us praise God with Michael W. Smith. Love these three songs!

No trial is too great, no temptation is too strong, but that Jesus the Messiah can give us the mercy and grace that we need, when we need it. “But He is so far away!” we may argue. “And He is the perfect Son of God! What can He know about the problems of weak sinners like us?”

But that is a part of His greatness! When He was ministering on earth in a human body, He experienced all that we experience, and even more. A sinless person would feel temptations and trials in a much greater way than you and I could ever feel them. The Messiah was tempted, yet He did not sin; and He is able to help us when we are tempted. If we fail to hold fast our confession, we are not proving that Jesus the Messiah has failed. We are only telling the world that we failed to draw on His grace and mercy when it was freely available to us.

  • Hebrews 4:15 (CSB) — 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
  • Matthew 4:1–11 (CSB) — 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

Bonus Content: Check out this supplemental content about Temptation. It adds context to this article. If you like it, please consider subscribing to the channel on YouTube.

Sources:

  • Paul E. Koptak, Proverbs, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 507.
  • Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 291). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.