Omnipotent

I just read a story in 1 Kings 20 that I wasn't familiar with. And I thought it was pretty cool.

This king named Ben-Hadad says he's going to attack King Ahab and the kingdom of Samaria in Israel. Ahab says he'll give him his wives and gold, but Ben-Hadad wants Ahab to give him everything of value that he owns. Ahab refuses.

So Ben-Hadad says he's going to attack, and there won't even be dust left. To which Ahab replies (and I love this line!), “A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.” (I HATE it when people smack talk about what WILL happen when they have no idea.)

Sure enough, God says he'll win the battle for Samaria, and Ahab will know that he is God. The battle takes place in the hills, and the Samaritans kick booty.

And then Ben-Hadad says this, which really struck me: “The Israelite gods are gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains." See, in Ben-Hadad's mind, there was no one sovereign God. There were gods of certain things. So they go to war on the plains, and God helps the Samaritans kick booty again. (The only problem is that Ahab makes a treaty and lets Ben-Hadad live, which he wasn't supposed to do.)

In a world full of trouble, where problems can occur anywhere when you least expect them, I'm glad I serve a God who's not just the god of the hills, not just the god of the plains, but the all-powerful God of everything.