The devil’s flag has been lowered and the Lord’s Banner has been raised.

I feel like David; I feel like a lot has been taken from me. 

If you are unfamiliar with the story, in 1 Samuel 30 David and his men return to Ziklag where their families and belongings were left. But, upon arrival, David and his men found that the Amalekites had attacked, raided and burned Ziklag and taken their wives, sons and daughters captive. I love verse 4 which says, “So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep” because that has been my exact situation before. Yet, in verse 6 it says, “But David found strength in the Lord his God.” That’s what I want my final response to always be. 

David then inquired of the Lord if he should pursue the Amalekites and God says yes. This is interesting to me because it is contrary to what I had just learned about the Lord my Avenger who tells me to rest at His right hand. What I realized is that the Lord doesn’t want us avenging ourselves, but he is in full support of our taking back what the enemy has stolen from us. 

The passage continues on to say David came upon the Amalekite camp and he saw them enjoying their plunder. But, he did not fear. He fought from dusk until evening and in the end, “David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken” (1 Samuel 30:18). It adds, “Nothing was missing…David brought everything back” (1 Samuel 30:19). 

One of the names of God is “The Lord My Banner”. In ancient times, when a people group would take over a land, the first thing they would do is drop the enemy’s flag and raise their own flag high to display their victory and ownership. That’s what God did with satan. Jesus defeated satan on the cross, dropped satan’s flag forever and raised up God’s Banner declaring full and final victory over all our battles into eternity. He claimed ownership over all his children and all of their battles. In doing so, He calls HIS victory OUR victory. 

Sometimes in the middle of your circumstances, it can become easy to focus on the current status of your individual battle. It can look like defeat and satan will tell you lies to make you believe it will end in defeat. But when you look up, you can see the Banner hanging high for all eternity, and it covers you. It’s your victory. Jesus won every battle for us. So look up and keep your eyes fixed on the Lord your Banner as you take back everything the enemy stole from you.