13 Characteristics of God as a Warrior
Characteristics of God
Do you ever feel like you are in a battle? You are fighting your kids, your spouse, your job. Maybe you are even fighting yourself. But most of all, you are in a spiritual battle. Satan is trying to take you down and keep you from doing God’s will. He attacks you with busyness, exhaustion, guilt, addiction, or whatever else he can think of to keep you down, to keep you fighting the things you can see—the people around you—rather than the true enemy.
In the midst of this battle, God is the warrior by your side. God will give you the strength to keep fighting the true enemy. And when he knows you have no more strength, he will fight for you. When you get in trouble, he is there to rescue you. When you are hurt from the battle, he is there to heal you. No matter what situation you find yourself in, God is able to help you.
Characteristics to Help During the Battle
God is a warrior who can help you in the midst of the battle with the enemy.
God is a Warrior. Not only does God fight the battle with you, he fights for you when you cannot fight. God also leads an army of warriors in the ultimate battle—the battle with Satan. In the end, we know God wins.
Exodus 15:3 – The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.
Isaiah 42:13 – The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.
God is a Refuge. In the midst of battle, God is a shelter from the storm. The Bible uses words like refuge, stronghold, fortress, rock, and tower to describe this characteristic of God.
Psalm 57:1 – Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
Proverbs 18:10 – The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
God is a Protector. When you are fighting the enemy, God is your protector. The Bible uses the image of a shield frequently in this context. God is a shield around those who fear him. It also uses words like he guards his people or keeps them safe.
Proverbs 2:7-8 – He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 – But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
God is a Rescuer. Sometimes in the midst of battle, the enemy captures us. We are in bondage and enslaved to the enemy. In these instances, God is a rescuer. If you call on him, he will deliver you from the hands of the enemy.
Isaiah 19:20 – It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the Land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.
Romans 7:24-25 – What a wretched man am I! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
God is our Guidance. You know there’s a battle to be fought, but you aren’t sure what to do or what your strategy should be to fight. God will guide you, lead you down the right path, teach you what to do, and direct your steps.
Nehemiah 9:19 – Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.
Isaiah 48:17 – This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”
God Hears Us. Sometimes when you are in trouble, it feels like you call out to God and nothing happens. You can be assured that if you call on his name, he will hear you and answer (even if the answer isn’t what you want).
2 Chronicles 7:14 – If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
1 John 5:14-15 – This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
God is a Helper. We often think of the helper as the weaker part of the pair. But not when God is the helper! When God is your helper, he’s the one who can turn things around for good.
Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Hebrews 13:6 – So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
God Strengthens Us. It takes a lot of energy to fight a battle. Humans are weak and run out of strength quickly. But God never runs out of strength, and he’s always ready to provide strength to those who follow him.
Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
1 Peter 4:11 – If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
God is With Us. When you fight a battle, sometimes it feels like you are the only one fighting. But if you have God on your side, you can know that he is with you, and he is fighting for you.
Deuteronomy 31:8 – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Isaiah 43:2 – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Characteristics to Help After the Battle
The battle always ends, and it’s a time for rest and recovery before the next battle hits. God is there in those moments too.
God Lifts Us Up. It’s the end of the battle, and you’ve been squashed. You feel like the enemy won this round. Even when you feel like you are at the lowest low, God is there to pick you up and put you back on your feet.
1 Samuel 2:8 – He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world.”
Psalm 40:2 – He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
God is a Healer. Battles inevitably come with injury and pain—both physical and emotional. God can heal even the biggest hurts.
Psalm 103:2-3 – Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.
Isaiah 53:5 – But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
God Gives Rest. At the end of the battle, we are weary and worn out. God is the one who provides rest for body and soul. Even God rested after six days of creation, and he gives us rest too.
Psalm 62:1 – Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.
Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
God Restores Us. Sometimes in battle, you can lose everything. You are stripped bare with nothing left. God is the great restorer. He makes all things new again, restoring to us what was lost.
Zechariah 10:6 – “I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. They will be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.”
Titus 3:5 – He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
Isn’t it comforting to know that we don’t have to face the battle alone? We don’t have to rely on our own strength to win the fight. God is there to protect us, to give us strength, and to fight with us. And if the battle gets the best of us, he is there to heal us, give us rest, and restore us. That’s certainly a God I want on my side!
The verses listed here are just a small taste of what the Bible says to support these characteristics of God. If you’d like to study more about God as a warrior over the next month, I’d encourage you to download and print the premium resource that goes along with this study. It is a “Bible Bingo” with 25 Scripture passages that provide further evidence for the characteristics of God we discussed above.
Click here to download the God is a Warrior Bible bingo card: Original / Printer-friendly
Click here to see all premium resources for this series.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about God as a warrior. Which characteristics of God do you need the most in your current battle?
The verse that cought my attention today was 1 Peter 4:11 where it says
anyone who serves do it with the strength God provides. I need to remember that.
This is a very good study. So many good verses. I will need to go back and read it again and again.