2 Chronicles 13

Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!" But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. Then Abijah and his people struck them with a great slaughter; so five hundred thousand choice men of Israel fell slain.

(2Ch 13:12-17)

“Do not fight against the Lord God of your Fathers, for you shall not prosper!” – Who is it that they are not to fight against? The Lord God of their FATHERS. The implication is that He was not THEIR God, but a distant memory, a part of history, someone who was part of their past, but not their present or future. In their forsaking of Him, they were now fighting against Him, and the result was that they WOULD NOT STAND.

We all want to prosper. I don’t know anyone who has ever said, “I really just want to fail at life”. Yet we don’t all want to follow the Lord. For many of us He is a part of our past, but plays no part in our present, and we see no role for Him in the future. This is a recipe for disaster! The world will tell us that it is part of the cost involved in traveling the road to success, but they are wrong. Their own road will fail them, and lead to a place of total destruction.

What about you? Are you fighting against God, yet looking to prosper? Look at your life and make sure you are not in the shoes of the children of Israel! If you aren’t, are you willing to carry the message of Abijah to those around you? To let them know the danger of the path they have chosen? It can be scary to speak the truth, but we need not be afraid, for just like Abijah, the Lord is ON OUR SIDE!