“The hero and the warrior!” My thoughts immediately went down the rabbit hole. The speaker was quoting from a Bible translation I was not familiar with, but it resonated in my spirit. I was attending a Christian Men’s Network conference at my brother’s invitation. He was flying into Dallas-Fort Worth, so I drove from Houston to pick him up and drove the remaining distance. It was a two-fer. I’m always looking for inspiration for my Men of Valor Devotions and it gave Roger and I some Bro time.

I opened my Bible and looked at the passage he referenced. “For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier [‘the hero and the warrior’ Holman Christian Standard Bible-HCSB], the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, everyone his fellow and everyone his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable” (Isaiah 3:1-5 ESV, parentheses mine).

The context was Israel’s drift into idolatry, child sacrifice, and general disobedience. Through Isaiah, God was telling His people that He was going to give to them the ultimate outcome of their natural choices — the honorable are pushed aside and unrighteousness grows stronger. My first thought was that “this does not bode well for our nation.” Many think that change in our country will come about through the political process, but recent elections have burst that bubble (big time). Maybe it’s because we don’t teach history anymore. The term “democracy” is bandied about, but we are not a democracy; we’re a Republic. There’s a difference. More importantly, however, is the basis on which our Republic was founded. “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” (John Adams, address to the military 1798).

If I were someone who placed his trust in the political process, I’d be discouraged, until I remember my two favorite words from Scripture — “but God!” “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25 ESV). Sound familiar? When King Jesus ceases to reign, everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Even when Israel drifted away, God was still looking for the heroes and the warriors. Joshua, Othniel, Ehud, Barak, and Gideon — these were the heroes and warriors called by God to bring deliverance to His people. The common denominator was that they responded to God’s call, and God was with them. Today, God’s call is to every man who has accepted King Jesus as Lord and Savior. He is with us and for us! “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 ESV). “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5 ESV). This isn’t pacifist language my friend! We are conquerors and overcomers.

Roger and I are always going back and forth on whether we need a revival or a “Great Awakening.” I think he’s right about the Great Awakening, but I believe it will come when you and I experience our own revival first. Scripture says, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action” (Daniel 11:32b ESV). Guys, it’s time to take action. What say ye, Man of Valor?