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An Easy Win



It is good to work hard and achieve our goals. In fact, there are few things that compare to the joy we feel when all our hard work pays off. During this time, however, we should always be mindful of overconfidence. The mindset of overconfidence can fill our heart with pride and blind our eyes to the next battle we face.

In competition, we see this folly often. A well-trained athlete will look at his next opponent with contempt and quickly underestimate him. He enters competition thinking it will be an easy win only to find that his competitor was fiercer that he originally anticipated.

We see examples of this in Scripture. We remember men such as Goliath who thought the battle against David was going to be an easy win. Goliath looked at David and said, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” (1 Samuel 17:43-44)

The battle against David was not as easy as Goliath thought that it would be. He lost his life because he was overconfident, he was arrogant, and he did not respect the God of heaven and earth who granted to David the victory.

Earlier in Scripture we see that Joshua’s men were also overconfident against the city of Ai (Joshua 7). When they returned from spying out the land, they told Joshua, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” (Joshua 7:3).

The men attacked Ai and were overcome. They turn the backs to their enemies and about thirty-six men lost their lives in the battle. The city of Ai was supposed to be an easy win. However, they had sin in the camp. It was for this reason God would not grant them victory any longer until the sin was identified and resolved.

Today, if we are not careful, we can think of our own spiritual battles as an easy win. However, we must never underestimate our opponent. Peter warns us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

As we journey through life, we are going to be faced with temptation, we will endure tribulation, and we will face many allurements trying to draw us off the straight and narrow path. Through it all, we must keep our focus on God and the prize of heaven that is ahead. We will win in the end, if we are faithful unto God (Revelation 2:10).

God Bless each of you,

Eric Hicks

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