God: Sherpa, Sovereign, Savior

One of the most fascinating phrases in scripture is: the battle is the Lords.  It appears several places, including 2 Chronicles 20: “Then the Spirit of the Lord… [spoke]…Listen King Jehoshaphat [and all of Israel]…Do not be afraid or discouraged, because of this vast army.  For the battle is not yours, but God’s…stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you…” (2 Chronicles 20:14-15; 17).   

But what exactly does it mean: ‘the battle is the Lord’s’?  Well among other things:  1) I’m Called To Make A Contribution, Not Be A Savior; 2) God Really Is Sovereign, Able To Triumph Over Anything That Prompts Worry Or Fear; 3) God Really Is Sovereign, Able To Redeem Any Apparent ‘Defeat,’ Working All Things Together For Good.    

Mediate on such truth, and sense fear softening.  For God wants you to know His mercy, lifting your worrisome fear.  For the battle ultimately is His.  And so stop trying to carry the whole load.  Let God be Savior, let God be Sovereign, ‘letting go’ of your heaviest, most brutal, most fearsome burden. 

Most of us, I’m guessing have heard of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mt. Everest.  But most of us, I’m guessing, have not heard of Tenzing Norgay.  But you need to know Tenzing Norgay, for without Norgay, Hillary would have never conquered Everest.  For Norgay was Hillary’s Sherpa, that is Hillary’s burden-bearer, who literally carried the bulk of Hillary’s gear and supplies up Mt. Everest, to Everest’s summit, 29,000 feet high in the sky!  You see Sherpas, like Norgay, are legendary in the vicinity of Mt. Everest, known to carry over 70% of their body weight, as they move through the rocky, fearful hills of Everest.   In fact they make the rocky, fearful hills of Everest hospitable – doable – possible – because they carry life’s heaviest weight – literally -- allowing persons to transverse an awesome, adventuresome, but anxious land.

Yes God is Savior, Sovereign -- but also Sherpa, carrying life’s heaviest weight for us.  Why as we transverse an awesome, adventuresome, but anxious land, God lifts our greatest burdens, allowing us to summit incredible heights.  But we must let God lift our burdens; we must not carry the whole load.  

And so stop trying to carry the whole load. For life doesn’t all depend on us.  And so do “…not lose heart…” (1 Samuel 17:32).  Do "..not be afraid or discouraged (2 Chronicles 20:15).  “…Stand firm and [anticipate] the deliverance the Lord will give…” (2 Chronicles 20:17).  Sure ‘all kinds of things’ frighten us, terrify us.’   But ...the battle [really] is the Lords…”  (2 Chronicles 20:15).   

And the Lord is able, for God is: Sherpa, Sovereign, Savior, able to protect all!!