Nahum 2:1
“He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.”
Nahum wrote to warn Assyria of the destruction that was coming upon them, because of their violent and immoral rebellion against God, His word, and His ways. He foretold of a time when the ancient city of Nineveh would be razed to the ground. Like Jonah before him, his message reveals the mercy of God, as the people are warned in advance and told how to be prepared. They are told to man the fort, watch the road and fortify the city. This is good advice no matter what enemy we are facing. In ancient times, cities were defended by being surrounded by high walls. The less defensive the terrain, the higher the walls had to be. If a city sat on a hilltop surrounded by steep cliffs, it’s walls did not have to be nearly as high as a city situated in the plains.
In many ways, the believer is like an ancient city. The more we become like Christ, the higher a target we become to the enemy of our souls, and the more likely we are to be under his attack. Every Christian who has stepped into ministry has experienced this. If you sign up for a mission trip, join the prayer team, or become a children’s ministry volunteer, you know this will come with increased opposition, temptation and difficulty. The key is not to retreat from service, but to build better defenses. We need to know what our weaknesses are if we are going to successfully prepare for an attack, and we need to have a defense system set in place. Often, this is done by making it more and more difficult to sin. For example, if you struggle with worry, then it is a good idea to build a defense system that makes worrying more difficult. This can be done by focusing less on the things that cause concern and spending time meditating in the promises of God. If I were prescribing medication to the worrier, it would be to take a healthy does of the promises of Jesus.
Whatever your greatest area of spiritual weakness might be, the solution is to build a good defense system against it.
Pastor Jim
It is not uncommon to hear people complain. If the sun is out, we find it to be too hot, if the clouds fill in, we complain that it is muggy, overcast or dreary. We often sound like Goldilocks, who thought things were too hot, too cold, too hard or too soft. When things pass from being uncomfortable to unmanageable, it is common for our complaints to turn against God. We accuse Him of being unfair, distant, uninvolved or even unloving. Like the disciples in the boat, we think God is asleep and does not care about the storm we are currently enduring. Micah draws our attention to a different grievance; this passage reveals the complaint God has against His people.
Several years ago I went to Orlando International Airport to pick up a young man whom I had never met. We had talked numerous times on the phone, but had not yet met in person. Before making the hundred mile drive to an airport that has almost thirty five million customers every year, I wanted to be sure I’d be able to pick my friend out of the hundred thousand people milling about. I asked him how I would recognize him. He responded by telling me, he had blond hair and was six feet, six inches tall. A few hours later, I walked into the airport and found him among the masses. Two characteristics were enough to distinguish him from the crowd.
