Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.

This verse is both quoted and sung, but at the same time it is often forgotten. There are a number of minor differences in translation between the English and Japanese, but I don’t think they are significant to what I feel the Lord is saying here. My initial response in reading this just now was that sometimes the weapons used against Christians seem to be all too effective, apparently contradicting this verse. As I thought that, the Lord pointed out a detail that I think is often overlooked. This promise is given to servants of the Lord, not to people who just want Him to pamper them. Far too many people are in it just for what they think they can get out of it, and that removes them from the category of servants. That is all the more tragic when we start looking at all the other ramifications. I preached just last Sunday on “Lord Jesus,” pointing out that even salvation is contingent on acknowledging Jesus as Lord. In Japanese the term for “Savior” specifically includes the character for “Lord,” but in English we try to separate the two, to our great loss. Biblically, if He isn’t your Lord, then He isn’t your Savior. The movie, Sister Act, was a comedy, but it had a few very excellent things in it, and one of those was the adaptation of the song, I Will Follow Him. That song, as adapted, is an excellent description of salvation, because it expresses the attitude of a true servant of God. As Hebrews 11 expresses at length, God’s servants don’t necessarily have it easy, but their ulti­mate end is very good. If some “weapon against us” seems to be effective, we first need to check our commitment and obedience. If the Holy Spirit doesn’t show any points of repentance there, then we are to take comfort in the fact that such a situation is strictly temporary, because our eternity is secure.

In my own experience, “weapons against me” have been effective only to the degree that I have allowed them to be. When I have come into full submission and obedience to my Lord Jesus, those weapons have essentially evaporated. However, I don’t always remember that properly, and new challenges can be daunting. I need to stay focused on the reality that for God, nothing is difficult, (Jeremiah 32:27) and when I am abiding in Christ, I can get through any situation at all. (Philippians 4:13) In that case, this verse is fully operative for me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. All sorts of things come against me in one way or another. Help me indeed walk in full obedience to You so that Christ’s victory may be manifested in every area of my life, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!