Mighty men – Part I

Pastor Dwight Fletcher

On Father’s Day we honoured the fathers in our lives and affirmed fatherhood. We can all agree that being a father is a God-given opportunity and responsibility and that our Heavenly Father, not only provides the personal model for the earthly fathers, but also grants empowerment and guide for them to be fathers of excellence. Some men will become better fathers than others, some will struggle but what God expects is that all will do their best. The Bible has a lot to say about men and it provides the help needed for them to do their best and to ultimately become mighty men of God. So, what does a mighty man of God looks like?

The Bible gives many great examples of men of God whose lives provide guidance and are examples of what God desires fathers to be. Their examples also help us excel in all areas of our lives. Some of these men include:

* Josheb: “… he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter”.

* Eleazar: “… the Israelites retreated, 10 but Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.”

* Shammah: the “…Israel’s troops fled from them. 12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.” 2 Samuel 23:8, 9, 11–12 (NIV).

These were very serious, mighty men whose feats of courage teach that mighty men of God stand their ground during overwhelming challenges/odds.

Sometimes standing our ground will cost us or make us unpopular, but our families need to see us as men of conviction who stand for integrity and for what we believe. Opposition takes many forms; sometimes the enemy we must fight is cultural and norms in the way we were raised;at other times the enemy is ridicule, fear or worry. These men were fighting against great opposition and it took courage for them to fight. It took strength to fight, persevere and withstand the fear of facing the enemy but they stood their ground regardless of the opposition.

This is easier to do when we are in the majority, but even in the minority, we must stand whether the world, friends or families are fighting with us. Often times, when we do the right things, we will have to stand alone. The apostle Paul experienced this and wrote in 2 Timothy 4: 16-18 (NIV), “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me… 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength … I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever.”

Like Paul, these mighty men were able to accomplish great things because they had help from the Lord. It doesn’t matter who will stand with us, men, let us stand for God knowing that He will help us. It doesn’t matter if others don’t stand up for their convictions or if others live so that their children and or family see them as mighty men. Let us stand and do what we know is right even when we stand alone: If we don’t stand our ground, our children won’t be able to stand their ground when they face the challenges that will come! They need us to be mighty men of God.

Standing our ground is just one characteristic of a mighty man of God, join us next week as we continue to look at other characteristics of a mighty man of God.