Scripture tells us Jacob and his children were forced to leave their homeland and go to Egypt because there was a famine in all the land. In Egypt they found food and shelter because God had blessed their brother Joseph to rise to the prominence there as second in command to Pharoah. Joseph had his brothers bring his dad and all that he had to Egypt where they would be cared for. Pharoah, it is said, gave Jacob and his family the land of Goshen. Goshen was the best land in Egypt. But more than that, it was the land where God would protect His children from the hardships that were to come. Goshen is God’s protected place.
God did not fight for the Israelites in Egypt. Instead, He protected them while they were there. And like them, God does not expect you and I to fight every day to live in peace where we are. Often, He wants first to be our protection right where we are before there is a need for a battle. But we must see how He works and be willing to accept protection more than we want to fight a battle.
Scripture gives us another example in 2 Kings 6:8-23. The king of Syria sought to kill the prophet Elisha because Elisha was doing the work of God to warn Israel about the plans of the king who fought to destroy the Israelites. Scripture says, “And Elisha’s servant said to him, alas my master! What shall we do? So, Elisha answered, do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant and allow him to see what he did not see yet. Elisha’s servant saw the host of the Syrian army all around them and wondered in fear what they could do to save themselves. But he did not see that what surrounded them was itself surrounded by a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. The Syrians surrounded Elisha, but God had surrounded the Syrians to protect Elisha.
Even though God could have easily destroyed the Syrians, God did not fight the Syrians that day. Instead, He blinded them so they could not see where they were. When God opened their eyes, the Syrian army found themselves prisoners of Israel. Yet still God did not fight. Contrary to human impulse, God fed the Syrians, nourished them, and sent them back to their homes. By blinding the Syrians to the natural things they wanted to do, God revealed to them the power of the Spiritual things they did not see. Now understanding the power of God, the Syrians never again raided the land of Israel. Without spilling a drop of blood, God gave the Israelites His protection as He had given their ancestors in Goshen.
Like the Israelites, we must learn that often God’s protection comes just before He engages in the things we want to battle in our lives. He wants to protect us from ourselves while He protects us from others. He wants to protect us from those who would hurt us and do us harm, but He also wants to protect us from being like those who would hurt, harm, or endanger others. Why is this? Because sometimes we come up against an enemy stronger than us, and sometimes we are our own enemy or the enemy of someone God is trying to protect. God wants us to live in the place where His protection abides. He wants us to live in the Goshen He has prepared for us.
Perhaps God is not as willing to fight others as we are ready and willing to fight. Instead, we must learn to live under His protection. By opening the eyes of our hearts, our faith, and our beliefs, we can see what we struggle against is surrounded by the army of God. Our natural eyes and our minds will tell us to fight those who fight against us. But the Spirit of God might just be saying to us to stop fighting what God does not want to defeat. Instead, learn to live a protected life—a life that says no matter what comes against me, there is something greater that surrounds the thing that has come up against me. I know I will be protected so I will wait patiently here in my Goshen for the hand of God to deliver me and to deliver the thing that comes against me.
God’s Goshen is the best place for you to live under His protection. When you take matters of your life into your own hands, you take God’s hands off the matters of your life. If you will accept God’s protection, then you will be able to let God choose when and how to fight the battles that come your way. Learn to live under His protection then you will know that you are protected.
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