2 Chronicles 14:9

2 Chronicles 14:9 says, And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.  Zerah the Ethiopian came against Asa with a million troops and three hundred chariots.  This was a sizeable force, and we as followers of Christ are nearly always going to be outnumbered in the war against Satan and his forces today.  They will attack us quite often, but we aren't called on to attack them out of anger but to reach out to them with the love of God.  Verse ten adds, Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.  In this case, Asa went out to meet them.  I do believe that we need to meet the enemies of God head on when they attack us and never retreat in fear, no matter how badly we are outnumbered.  Verse eleven continues, And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.  Asa prayed to God and acknowledged that He was more powerful that any enemy and asked Him to help the people if Judah.  We serve that same God today as Christians.  As His people, we should always call on Him, but when life seems to be overpowering, we need to call on Him even more and rely on his power to keep us safe.  We must also acknowledge that even if we lose our life here on earth while standing with God, we are still the victors.  Verse twelve states, So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.  We are not told how, but we are told that God defeated the Ethiopians, and they fled from Asa.  We may not always know how God has protected us from our enemies, but we can rest assured that we are forever victorious if we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. Verse thirteen adds, And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.  Asa and his troops pursued the Ethiopians, and they were overthrown.  They also carried away a lot of spoils of war.  We are not to go to war with the world today seeking to benefit from doing so materially, but we do need to do what God calls us to do to win the victory over them spiritually.  It wasn't Asa and his troops that defeated the Ethiopians, but God did.  If we are successful in our battle against evil today, it will always be by the power of God.  Verse fourteen continues, And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the Lord came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.  We are told that they continued to destroy the cities around Gerar because the fear of the Lord came on them.   We need to have that same fear, or awesome respect I would say, for doing what God call us to do today.  We should never act without knowing that God is leading us to do so, and if we know that He is, nothing should stop us from doing what He has called us to do.  Verse fifteen concludes, They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.  They also gained a lot of spoils, but what we gain today will be our rewards in heaven.  Asa stated before, we don't serve God for earthly rewards, but for a home in Heaven.