As a teacher, I am all too familiar with the phrases "greater than" or "less than". If a number is greater than, it's value is higher than the other number being compared. If a number is less than, it's value is lower than the other number being compared. The essential function of comparing numbers is to see how much value each number contains.
Today, I have been studying 2 Chronicles chapter 20, a story about Jehoshaphat about to enter into battle against the Ammonites and the Moabites. From the jump, we see him sore afraid of the army that is coming after him. The punchline (get it? punch? war?)- anywho, the punchline of the story is in verse 3 where Jehoshaphat determined, through his fear, that he would seek out the Lord about the battle that was about to rage against him. He prays before the assembly of people basically asking God, "You're the only One who can win this battle right? So what should we do?" The spirit of God came and spoke through one of the men in the assembly reassuring the king and his followers that they should not be afraid but that they should trust in God, in whom the battle would be fought. After this, we see God confuse the opposing nations of Ammon and Moab to turn on one another just by Judah walking and singing a praise and worship song!
What does this have to do with greater than or less than? As a child, I used to get the symbols confused. If 6>5, this means that 6 is greater than 5. What's the irony of the symbol? I was confused because the bigger numbers are "eaten" by the open end of the sign >. Why are the bigger numbers eaten if they have higher value than the other number. But what is even more ironic is the sovereignty of our God. He is ALWAYS greater than whatever is on the other end of our equations in life. He is not destroyed by those small doubts that we have or the fear of defeat. In fact, God tells Jehoshaphat something similar to what He tells Joshua at the open of His career for God: do not be afraid for I will be there with you. So this is not a matter of greater than or less than. The cliche question that arrives is: Does God fit into our equations in our lives? Do we leave room for Him? Purposely seeking Him? Or does He often become a variable in our lives? Someone that we can do without? Someone who we think can not be greater than what we see as inevitable. God's steadfast character IS the only inevitable that we have in our lives. Whatever that means exclusively is spelled out in His word. We are just to make sure that the equation we are writing in our lives includes the true God who is greater than the inevitable.
