Is all calm and bright on your front this year? Do you struggle with circular thoughts of concern that trouble you and threaten to overwhelm? Well stand up, friend.

Three years of Christmases have brought us trials–job loss, bankruptcy, health concerns and other various turmoils and distresses. And they were hard circumstances. They were overwhelming to us. Today I praise God, not only that those floods have now passed and our current circumstances are relatively calm, but because of those overwhelming trials. They have meant the world to our family. God used the allowance of these trials in our lives to REVEAL His glory in our family! I wouldn’t trade them for anything–hard as they were.

Sometimes, they still are hard. I just saw a friend at the store one day and couldn’t bring myself to speak, only smile at her. You see, she was our bank teller. She knew me well. I walked in with countless deposits. With the bankruptcy, we had to leave that bank. I so wanted to say to her how sorry I was, as we stood in line to check out. So, yes, it can still be hard on some days–days when I feel like a cheater.

But God reminds me that I am His and I can stand on His truth and hold my head up. I am still His own Beloved. So stand in this truth that God has been sharing with me:

“When the enemy shall come like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19 KJV

The Amplified version puts it this way: “So [as the result of the Messiah's intervention] they shall [reverently] fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives].”

The enemy will most certainly come, my friend. On that day when Jesus was born, the enemy was on the march. King Herod tried to find baby Jesus and ended up killing all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and in its vicinity.

“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” Matthew 2:16 (NIV)

So if Jesus was in a school classroom in Bethlehem, there would be no boys his age in that room. There would be no boys within a two year range. Can you picture that? The enemy has no mercy. Let me say that again. The enemy has no mercy.

He will be relentless, coming like a flood. Sometimes, the onslaught is through our circumstances. Can you imagine the mothers of these young boys? They had dreams and hopes. And they had an enemy on the march.

Sometimes the onslaught is through people, who would like to cause us harm–be it intentionally or not. The enemy is intentional, though. He has a dark purpose. He has no mercy. He is on the war path.

So what do we do? Shall we hide under the covers and hope the flood will not come to us? No, we shall stand on the promise that God fulfilled in this baby we celebrate this day.

For God, my friends, He is rallying to the battle with His flag wildly waving in the wind of His ability. Here’s the fact–He wins. He wins in the battle. He wins in the war. He fights for us. As His promise is seen on the table of history, we have a Savior. He is the one, who was born on our behalf–to hold back the flood of the enemy. He came to bring peace to your souls. He came to be mercy and strength–a weapon that the enemy cannot and will not win against.

Oh, it may appear that he is winning some days. But the revealed things are God’s. He will reveal victory from every single circumstance, person ot event that you are facing, have faced and will face.

So when the enemy comes like a flood upon you, it may not be a silent night–it may not be calm and bright. But it will be Holy. God shall raise His mighty arm to push back the flood. He shall be your peace. He is your peace. He will deliver you, my friend.

Merry Christmas from all of us at A Martha Heart!
Sitting at Jesus’ feet changes us, enables us and gives us everything we need for everything we face today and in the coming year.

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