Sometime during the mid 1950s, a phrase was coined whenever a threat was made to someone. The response would be “you and who else?”. That phrase evolved during the 60s to “you and what army?”. In essence, it implies that the person making the threat can not fight back on their own or with their own strength, and will need a lot more help in order to make good on their statement.

There have been times in my life when I felt like my back was against the wall and my natural reaction was to fight back, but I had neither the strength nor the willpower to do so on my own. We all find ourselves in battles where we feel outnumbered, outmatched, defeated before we even engage. Those battles might be disease, divorce, addiction, depression-anything that zaps our energy and renders us helpless and hopeless.

In the book of 2 Kings, chapter 6, is the story of Elisha and his young servant who find themselves surrounded by chariots and horses of the armies of King of Aram:

“Oh sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried. “Don’t be afraid, because there are more on our side than on theirs!”. Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open up his eyes so that he might see”. The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside surrounding Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire”.

Romans 8:31 reads “If God is for us, then who could ever be against us”, or from the Message translation, how could we ever lose! The next time you are in a situation that seems hopeless, or you simply feel too tired to fight, remember these things. First, God knows your enemy or the details of your circumstances far more than you do. Second, his armies never sleep but keep constant watch over all of his children. And third and most importantly, our God remains the undisputed, unmatched, and undefeated King of all armies. So the next time your enemy says to you, “you and what army?”, you can reply with all confidence “here, hold my beer!”.