“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder,

    and his name shall be called…Mighty God.”

Isaiah 9:6

Mighty God. To the original hearers, this title was linked to images of war. This promised child will be a God who enters into battle and wins. This son will rule as a mighty warrior among them. 

The people of God had seen him fight before. They stood and watched as he parted the Red Sea and brought it crashing down on Pharaoh’s army. They marched around Jericho and watched him pull down every stone with just the sound of their voices. They heard tales of Gideon’s small band of men that defeated an army with only torches and trumpets. They had seen a giant fall at the hands of a young man with a few stones. Their God had a proven track record of being mighty in battle.

But as their enemies gathered around them, the people of God did not remember his past victories. They believed in what their eyes could see. They were surrounded and afraid. They lost hope. Darkness covered them and their faith was snuffed out. They no longer lived as if their God was mighty to save. 

Do you live by what you can see? When the enemies of your soul surround you, what do you fixate on? As expenses loom, do you try to quiet your fear by obsessively checking your bank account and investments? When loneliness threatens, do you lose yourself in the black hole of social media? When your health begins to fail, do you put your hope in the latest treatments or the most sought after specialist? When insecurities assail you, do you focus on the one thing you have going for you? When you face your failures, do you try and quiet the voices by reminding yourself of everything you’ve done right?

Your God is a mighty warrior, but you won’t live as if that’s true if you only trust in what you can see. You will lose hope the second you stop looking for him. When we lose hope, we live in a vacuum in which faith cannot grow. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6) We need hope to believe that God will reward us with more of himself when we seek him. And without faith, it is impossible to see God at work in our lives.

The enemies that surrounded Israel were real. They weren’t figments of the imagination. Our enemies are real too. We are not called to be dismissive over the losses we have suffered, the fear we experience, or the anxiety we carry. But when these real enemies show up, what do we do? How do we view them? “The darkness and distress are real but they are neither the only reality nor the fundamental reality. In any given situation we can either sink into despair or rise to faith and hope.” (J.A. Motyer). When I look at my life will I choose to fixate on the loss, fear and anxiety? Or will I rise to faith and hope?

Faith is hard. It is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) It is hard to place our hopes in a God we cannot see. It is difficult to live with conviction that our God is a mighty warrior, when all around us evil is winning. Questions loom in the dark: Is God really who he says he is? Will he do what he has promised? 

Is faith just blind acceptance? What proof do we have that God will fight for us? When fears assail our hearts, God has given us something tangible to place our hopes in. He has given us the Word made flesh, the one who could be seen with our eyes and touched with our hands. (1 John 1:1) When all I can see are my enemies, I often have to stop, close my eyes and “see” Jesus. I go to a place where Jesus proves his power to me.

It may not be the place you expect. It is not a moment of triumph, but a time when the world would have looked at him and only seen his weakness. When Jesus was betrayed, he was handed over to the Romans. In their day, the Romans were THE enemies to be feared. They had made a science out of how to kill people brutally and effectively. Crucifixion could take days, so the soldiers would speed along the process by scourging the prisoner with a leather whip that had pieces of metal or bone woven into the strands. It ripped through skin and muscle and could tear down to the bone. It was thought that 40 lashes would kill a man, so they whipped him 39 times.

When Jesus was arrested, he told his disciples to put away their swords. He was fully in control in that moment. After all, he said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53) Can you imagine the scene in heaven? 50,000 angels with hands on the hilts of their swords, waiting for the Son of God to utter just one word: “Enough”. One word and an angel army would descend and destroy.

But that word never came. Lash after lash. Ripped flesh, torn muscles, physical agony that we cannot even begin to imagine. And still, not one word.

When is power most evident? When it is restrained for the sake of love. Thirty-nine times the Mighty God was silent. Why?

Because thirty-nine times he chose you. The scars on his back prove the love of God for you. When you are surrounded by enemies, when anxiety overcomes you, when the darkness of fear and doubt cover you, remember your Mighty God. Remember him holding on to you when it would have been so much easier to let go. Remember him fighting for you, proving his power and his love for you.

To us a child is born. To us a son is given. His name is Mighty God, for he has proven himself to be mighty to save.