Proverbs 20:18

Proverbs 20:18 NKJV - Plans are established by counsel; By wise counsel wage war.

Believers in Jesus sometimes forget that they are in a war, a spiritual war, a war for the souls of man. The enemy of all seeks to destroy us as a raging lion, that he might somehow thwart the plans of the Lord and pierce His heart through hurting us. Though he cannot achieve his goal of averting the Lord's victory (since it was already complete at the cross), he constantly tries and will bring as many as he can with him to the pit. The war isn't an option, it's not something that a believer in Jesus can opt out of, nor be a conscientious objector to. Instead we are commanded here in the proverbs "by wise counsel wage war."

Where do we get this wise counsel so that we might fight this war in the shadow of Jesus's already secure victory? It doesn't lie with the wisdom of men, for the Lord says that "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12) and, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6). So the answer lies not in doing what seems right to us in our own understanding, but rather it is in trusting in the Almighty God, leaning on Him (Jesus said, "Come unto me you that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."), and acknowledging that the Father must be the source of our counsel, else the battle will not be won, though the war has been already.

So then, we come to the Person of Christ for the counsel that we must have to wage this war. Jesus was of course the Word of God, the Manna from heaven, the incarnation of the very thoughts and person of the Father. As Jesus was the Word of God, we have also been given God's very words in the pages of the Bible, the things that were spoken by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In this dark world, the Word of God gives us light to fight the battle by as it says in Psalms 119:130, "The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." Not only is the Word light, but it is powerful and able to accomplish that which God has intended. "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11).

As we see the call for battle and now look to the Person of God and His words for our direction we must now walk this path according to His ways and by use of His weapons. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Also as the Lord told Zerubbabel "...'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'" (Zechariah 4:6)

The Word of God will accomplish His work in this world. We then must commit our selves to His Wisdom and ways for only then will we find that which we are looking for, the Victory of Christ made manifest by the salvation of man.

"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. " (1 Corinthians 1:21)

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." (Romans 1:16)