“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’ “Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. But the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people. We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked. [Deuteronomy 2.31-35]
I am sure there was more time and thought into it, but the narrative sounds like God had no sooner given Moses and Israel the instruction to take the Heshbon area than Sihon mobilized his army against Israel.
Isn't that just the way it goes? God gives direction and before you know it, the thing God said to do is all over you like a swarm of bees!
The one thing about war is this: neither army knows the outcome of their offensive or defensive until the battle is over. How could they?
However, one thing may be certain about being on the defensive: it is not gaining ground (in both the literal and allegorical senses). To gain ground, one must take the offensive! One must engage in battle not only to defend, but to overcome. Because it requires time and resources, merely defending really is losing.
Oh how I wish sometimes that the Bible did not speak so clearly to my present situation!
Father, I know You are speaking to me today. My present situation feels like I am being attacked and it is all I can do just to manage my loss of ground the best I can. I know, spiritually speaking, that now is not the time to 'bunker in' but to become assertive and fight. Who knows what You might do in my favor?
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