Welcome to episode 28.
Today, we're going to take on a posture of peace
by setting an atmosphere in our homes
where the enemy cannot survive.
Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale.
Posture is a podcast that serves a short, audible fist
bump to remind you that God is in everything.
Together, we're going to be emboldened to take
a daily posture of perfect peace.
As a posture community this week,
we have been refining our focus on God being our warrior king.
You know, you and I serve a God who has never lost a battle.
And he has gifted his victory for his people
to carry each and every day of our lives.
And so we have been reminiscing on past battles of breakthrough
where God has led his people in victory.
And today, we're going to be reading about a victorious battle
out of Judges chapter four.
And as always, I encourage you to take time today
to read this chapter in its entirety.
I encourage you to read Judges chapter four
and then read the victory song of Deborah and Barak
in chapter five.
Such powerful, powerful chapters, okay?
But for the sake of our time,
I'm going to be highlighting portions of the story.
A quick background so you know what's going on.
The people of God, the people of Israel,
have been held in oppression under the nation of Canaan
for 20 years.
And God speaks to the prophetess Deborah
and he tells the people of Israel,
it is time for you to go against Canaan.
I'm going to give you victory over them.
So the army of Israel and the army of Canaan are in a battle.
The army of God, the army of Israel,
wipes out the enemy army, okay?
And that's where we pick up in verse 16.
It says, and all of the army of Sisera.
Now, Sisera was the commander.
He was leading the army of Canaan.
It says, all the army of Sisera fell by the edge
of the sword, not a man was left.
And then it says, but Sisera escaped
and he fled away to the tent of Yael,
the wife of Heber the Kenite.
For there was peace between the king of Canaan
and the house of Heber the Kenite.
So Sisera was showing up at Yael's house
expecting to find protection.
And it says that, I'm skipping through a little bit,
but it says in verse 20 that Sisera told Yael,
stand at the opening of your tent, stand at your door.
And if any man comes and asks you,
hey, is anyone in there?
You tell them, no, no one is inside.
And then verse 21 happens and it gets real intense.
It says, but Yael, the wife of Heber,
took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand.
And she, it says, then she went softly to him
and drove the tent peg into his temple
until it hit the ground.
Guys, I'm not making this up.
While he was lying fast asleep from weariness,
so he died.
You think?
Okay, and then just quickly wrapping up the story,
Barak, who is the leader of Israel's army,
comes looking for Sisera and Yael goes out to meet Barak
and says, come, I will show you the man you are seeking.
Can you imagine?
Okay, so why in the world would I pull out
this portion of the story to share with you guys today?
There's three things I want us to cover
that just captivated me about the story,
especially for the time in which we're living in right now
with this global health crisis.
Okay, the first thing is that the enemy of God
showed up at Yael's door expecting to find agreement.
The enemy showed up expecting to find protection
in her home.
Protection from what?
Protection from the army of God who was pursuing Sisera
to rightly destroy him.
So the question for you and I today is this.
What enemy has showed up at our door today
expecting to find agreement with us?
Expecting to find protection in our home?
Has anxiety showed up at your door today?
Has sickness showed up at your house today?
What about lack, isolation, fear, panic, worry?
No matter what the enemy has sent at your door today,
you and I get to decide
if they are gonna be welcome there.
The second thing that I want us to talk about
to bring up is that Yael took a tent peg and a hammer to drive a deadly blow to the enemy.
is that the enemy of God showed up expecting to find
agreement with us.
These were things that she had, they were part of her house, I mean she lived in a tent so they were
lying around, if you will, in her home. And I'm taking this to heart because I realize that
I want to have a home, I want to have an atmosphere in my home where when the enemy
shows up it drives him a deadly blow. Okay so I want to make sure that what I am watching,
what I am listening to, what I am reading, what we are saying to each other in this house
is not empowering the enemy, it is taking him out. And then the third thing about this story,
and you might think, wow that was a really graphic story, why did you have to go into
such detail? I mean I read it word for word, I didn't make it up, but the reason I didn't soften
it, if you will, is because I wanted us to get that violent image in our head for just a second.
Because you and I serve a warrior king and we are the people of God and we are
warriors in his kingdom and we are not called to be a people that shoo away the enemy. No,
we are called to rise up, to be a mighty force, and to drive the enemy a fatal blow.
So today with all that's going on in our world, maybe things that are going on in our home,
in our personal lives, I want you to remember this. You and I have been empowered by the spirit
of God to rise up and destroy any stronghold that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.
I just want to, as a quick disclaimer, I think I might legally have to do this,
need to also remind you that the Bible says that you and I, our enemy, is not flesh and blood,
okay? I am not proposing that we drive a tent peg into any human's head, okay? We don't fight
against flesh and blood. We fight against the powers of darkness. That is who we have been
equipped to take on and to raise the victory banner over. So whatever showed up at your house
today, anxiety, fear, lack, worry, anything expecting to raise itself up against the knowledge of God,
to raise itself up against the promises of God, I want you to know this. You do not have to welcome
it. Set an atmosphere in your home today that is one of peace, love, joy, and then remind yourself
that you are capable, because of the spirit of God in you, to drive the enemy a fatal blow.
The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3, and in Hebrew it is shalom shalom, meaning
complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in Jesus. Let's
declare this together. Today, I am kept in perfect peace. With my whole heart, I trust the Lord.
I am strong. I am victorious. I am whole. Remember, friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus's
ultimate win, not because of anything you did, but because of what he did for you. With every
step you take today, you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.