When God cant help us

“So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.”

Judges 1:19

God is with you. Do you believe it?

The book of Judges starts with a powerful overture. After Joshua’s death, the Israelites continued to drive the Canaanites out of the land to inherit what God had promised them. The entire first chapter tells us stories of victory and triumph…up until verse 19.

Suddenly, they couldn’t defeat the enemy. They “could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron.”

Why could they not?
Did God lose His strength here?
Did He decide to stop helping His people?

 

Absolutely not. “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1). The beginning of the verse clearly states that God was with them. He helped the Israelites drive out the mountaineers — but “there was no driving out” in the valley because those enemies had chariots!

God had worked countless miracles before, yet He could not help in that moment because His children lacked faith.

How many times have I tied God’s hands with my own unbelief?

When I didn’t believe God would give me this job.
When I didn’t believe my wife would get pregnant.
When I didn’t believe God would heal that person.
When I didn’t believe God would save this family member.

Sometimes, I surrendered my unbelief to Him, and He came through just in time. But in other situations, I missed out on mighty miracles because I didn’t want to believe.

So how can we believe?

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

1) Immerse yourself in God’s word. Listen to it, read it, study it, and memorize it. Dive into those ancient stories where God’s people made the sun stand still, where the waters parted, where humans walked on water and angels shut the mouths of lions. You’ll quickly see that this is the reality God wants us to experience.
 
2) Start praying like you believe it. This sounds weird if you have never tried it. But it really works. Ellen White once wrote, “Those who talk faith and cultivate faith will have faith, but those who cherish and express doubts will have doubts.” In 2024, my spiritual mentor heard that we were expecting our first baby, so he started praying that God would give us our own house. In Southern California. As a minister. Right after I had lost my job. When he prayed that prayer, we were living with four other people in someone else’s house. I almost had to laugh — that’s how strong my unbelief was. But two months later, God gave us two new jobs and free housing on a huge property. We didn’t even have to pay utilities! 
 
Friends, God is with you.
His hand is not shortened. 
Ask, and you shall receive.
He can surely do the mightiest miracles. 

“Go into a cellar, and you may well talk of darkness, and say, ‘I cannot see; I cannot see,’ But come up into the upper chamber, where the light shines, and you need not be in darkness. Come where Christ is, and you will have light. Talk unbelief; and you will have unbelief; but talk faith, and you will have faith. According to the seed sown will be the harvest. If you talk of heaven and the eternal reward, you will become lighter and lighter in the Lord, and your faith will grow because it is exercised.”

The Australian Union Conference Record, November 1, 1904

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