Is The Lord Really With You?

Is the Lord with you? What does it mean when the Bible says, “The Lord was with him”? What does your life look like when God is with you? Together, we are going to investigate the lives of various people in the Bible and see what it means for God to be with us. As we review the lives of these people, pay close attention to what you might expect and not expect from someone whom God is with. Keep in mind that it was a common belief in Biblical times that if God was with you then good things would accompany your life and your daily living would lead to prosperity and blessings. Nowhere is this worldview more salient than in the Book of Job. Even though Job was a righteous man, his friends firmly believed that he must have done something evil to merit the catastrophic events of his life. Is this way of thinking still prevalent among today’s Christians? Perhaps you have heard someone say, “With all the bad things that are happening to her, she must not be living right!” or perhaps you’ve heard a similar phrase that conveys the same thought. Well, let’s look at the lives of several people where the Bible says "The Lord was with him."

Let's start with Joseph. In Genesis 39:2 we read, "The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man." Ok, here's the first word we associate with the Lord being with us - success! That makes sense. If God is with you then you will see success in your life, right? Well, let's keep reading about this person that God was with. Joseph went on to be thrown in prison for 14 years for a crime he didn't commit (Genesis 39:20). Yes, he languished in prison for 14 years! Now, be honest with yourselves. Does a fourteen-year convict look like someone that 'The Lord was with'?

Let's keep going. Let's look at the Men of Judah. In Judges 1:19 we read that when the Israelites were conquering Canaan they had to battle against mighty armies. It reads as follows, "So the Lord was with Judah and they drove out the Highlanders..." Ok, there is our second word or phrase we would associate with the Lord being with us - we will conquer our enemies! Sounds good right? Well, again, not so fast. Because if you keep reading the rest of that verse it will tell you that, "they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland because they had chariots of iron." What? God can't handle iron chariots? What's that all about?

Continuing right along we read about the Prophet Samuel. The Bible says that "Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground" 1 Samuel 3:19. Here's another thing you would expect from someone that God is with - Their honor is upheld by virtue of God being with them. You should know that in Biblical times, a prophet's word was his honor and good reputation. The worst thing that could happen to a prophet was that his word did not come true. They often paid with their lives for prophesying falsely! Yet, as we continue to read further we see that Samuel was dishonored by the behavior of his own sons. It says that "his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice." 1 Samuel 8: 1-3. The situation with his sons got to be so bad that the people did not want any part of the so-called leadership of his sons and instead, asked that they be given a king instead of a priest leader. What happened here? Was God not with Samuel as he was raising his children? Well, let's move on.

Next, we have King David. The Bible says that "David went on and became great, and the Lord God of Hosts was with him." 2 Samuel 5:10. Yep, that's certainly a word we would associate with God being with us - greatness! I'd imagine we all like that one. But wait a minute! What is this I read in 2 Samuel 12:9? Here the prophet of God says to King David, "Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon." Well, that doesn't sound like the actions of someone that the Lord is with. This David fella must be horrible - right? Well, let's just keep going.

King Hezekiah was one of Judah's few good kings. In fact, we read that "The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went." 2 Kings 18:7. Oh yes, we like that word - prospered! Now there's a word I would expect from someone that the Lord is with. Yep, prosperity! That sounds right. But wait, what's this I see in 2 Kings 20:1? "In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah went to him and said, Thus says the Lord; Set your house in order for you shall die and not live!" Oh my! That definitely does not sound like he was 'living right'! Yikes!

Ok, what about King Solomon? Surely his life will show evidence that God was with him. In fact, it says in 2 Chronicles 1:1 that "Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly." This makes sense to most of us, right? When you live right and God is with you it should come as no surprise that God will strengthen and exalt you. Yet it seems that King Solomon wasn't strong enough to resist the evil influences of his 700 wives! The Bible goes on to tell us that "he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his many wives led him astray." 1 Kings 11:3. Hmm, are you sure God was with him?

Ok, how about King Asa? The Bible says that "he gathered all Judah and Benjamin ... for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that God was with him." 2 Chronicles 15:9. Yes, I would think that when others see that God is with you people will gravitate towards you with confidence because they see in you a person that is blessed by God. But wait! The Bible goes on to say that "in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet and his malady was severe; yet in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but instead, sought out the physicians." 2 Chronicles 16:12. So, instead of trusting God for healing, he placed his trust on the physicians. Unlike in today's modern world, in biblical times, seeking physicians for your health was a sign that you lacked faith in the power of God to heal. Without getting into a debate about spiritual healing vs scientific healing, suffice it to say that whatever Asa's motivation was, it offended God to the point of Asa's death. Yikes again... but let's move on.

King Jehoshaphat is another king known for doing good. In 2 Chronicles 17:3 we read that "the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals." Yes, that is what I would expect from a person that the Lord is with. A person that would not seek after false gods and not place his faith in idols. This sounds right to me. Oh, but wait! What's this? I'm reading here that "But Eliezer...prophesied against Jehoshaphat saying, Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah (another local king), the Lord has destroyed your works. Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish." 2 Chronicles 20:37. To lend context to this story, it turns out that Jehoshaphat had allied himself to another earthly king in case of war. In doing this, he showed that he trusted this other king and the ships of war they had built to gain victory instead of trusting in God knowing that God didn't need military ships to win a war on behalf of His people.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Ok, so what are these stories telling us? Based on some of the examples above you will notice that God may bless you at some point in your life but at other times, you may experience hardships despite the Lord being with you. In the stories above we can observe some of the terms and phrases commonly associated with 'the Lord being with us'. These include success, exaltation, fame, victory over your enemies, greatness, prosperity, strength, and the confidence of other people in you.

Additionally, based on these stories, we can observe that it may be possible for ‘The Lord to be with you’ despite your life not showing any outward blessings. We can see from some of these cases that the Lord outwardly blessed the person while they led a righteous life (Joseph, Men of Judah, Samuel, Hezekiah). In other cases, the Lord continued to bless them even after they deviated from a righteous life (David, Solomon). Finally, in some of these cases, the Lord brought catastrophe to them after they deviated from a righteous life (Asa, Jehoshaphat).

My question to you is, can you determine from someone’s life if the Lord is with them?

If not, what does this mean for you? Can you determine from your own life if the Lord is with you? If bad things happen to you, does that mean that the Lord is NOT with you? If good things happen to you is that proof that the Lord IS with you? Which should we use as an indicator of whether God is with us – outward circumstances (good or bad) or a close spiritual relationship with God? Do you tend to make a determination on whether the Lord is with you based on the things that happen to you in your life? Think about if this makes sense to you. God is with you when good things happen to you but He is not with you when bad things happen to you. Does this sound right to you?

Could it be that the Lord is with you regardless of your life's circumstances? Didn't He promise that He would be with us always? (Matthew 28:20). Could it be that the phrase "The Lord is with you" doesn't mean that you will not experience bad things from time to time? Could the phrase 'The Lord is with you' mean that Jesus will be with you through good times and bad times? Through times of joy and through times of adversity. Could it mean that Jesus was with Daniel's friends BEFORE they were thrown into the fiery furnace as well as when they were IN the fiery furnace? Remember, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Just something to think about!

Lastly, check out this interesting little verse from the Gospel of Matthew.

"… He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Matthew 5:45.

Hmmm.

Until next time fellow pilgrims!