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Long before the ‘miracle’ election, God was moving. He was putting things in place so subtly we would have to look back to see what His hand had done.

What did He do?

About the same time as Ps Margaret Court was being stirred to call the nation to prayer, I was being stirred in a different way.

The Scripture (above) from Acts would not leave me alone. Boldness in proclaiming the truth of Scripture so that God could do the rest was blazing in my heart, and I knew I had to get this Scripture out there… somehow.

As I was thinking about ‘how’, God reminded me of a young boy, David. I saw a clear picture. David stood before a huge and powerful, confident, heavily armed, seasoned warrior, Goliath. In contrast, the boy was small, powerless and virtually unarmed.

These were the facts. But facts didn’t win the day!

This was not David’s battle… it was God’s!

Before that battle, God had been working behind the scenes to subtly put things in place. But what He did could only be seen later.

While the battle lines were being drawn, David was removed from his regular job and sent as a servant to take food to his brothers serving on the front line. He arrived just in time…

The boy heard Goliath insulting God and God’s great army, but instead of being afraid of the threats, he found himself amazed at the fear being displayed by the mighty soldiers of God. Their eyes were on Goliath rather than God, and so he cried out,

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

His faith got the attention of King Saul, who then sent him into battle on Israel’s behalf. David refused to wear traditional armour or use unfamiliar weapons, but instead picked up his sling and carefully chose five, water-smoothed river stones to use as shots. We all know the rest of the story.

I could see the same scenario being played out in Australia.

The godless were raging, insulting our God, His word, His people and threatening to tear down everything we believed in; everything we had fought for and held dear for so long. The enemy seemed huge, that was a fact. But facts would not win this battle!

They were attacking God’s word — God Himself!

This was God’s battle!

And God was always at least ten steps ahead of His enemy.

I could see five prominent people in powerful positions, who had been raised up by God, “for such a time as this”, five river stones, washed smooth over many years by being immersed in the water of the word, ready to be powerfully used.

I needed to get the Scripture God had given me, to them, but how?

Writing an email would not be enough, it could be lost the next day. Just speaking it would not be enough, it could be forgotten. No, it needed to be more lasting…

In late March, I sat down and carefully created a poster (see above) which I had printed and block-mounted into a wall hanging. In early May, I sent it to:

• The Honourable Scott Morrison, Prime Minister,
• Martyn Iles, Director of the Australian Christian Lobby,
• Margaret Court, Pastor
• Warwick Marsh and Kurt Mahlburg at the Canberra Declaration, and
• Senator Cori Bernardi at the Australian Conservatives

These five were all well-known Christians in the public arena who were all working from different angles towards the same Judeo-Christian political goals.

Then Israel Folau’s boldly-proclaimed word hit the media!

After the election, Warwick Marsh asked me which stone I thought brought down Goliath. He said he thought it was the call to prayer by Ps Margaret Court, and I agreed with him.

But it was the sling that carried the stone which fascinated me the most.

In hindsight, it’s now easy to see that Israel Folau’s boldness was the sling which carried the winning shot to the noisy Philistines. It was the Folau furore which galvanised the nation, united Christians as one and catapulted our focus to prayer.

His boldness moved the hand of God!

God’s hand was evident in everything that happened with Israel Folau; the timing was perfect, the hatred of God and his people, hidden for so long, was suddenly exposed for all to see, and God’s people humbled themselves and prayed like never before.

God was in the battle!

As in the story of David, God was moving in the background putting things in place; the people, events and circumstances which would ultimately lead to victory.

But that was not the end…

Even with God in the background, Goliath was not killed by the stone, only knocked out. David had to take up the sword in order to kill him, which he did!

This is where our Australian story now stands.

The ‘miracle’ election was just the beginning. However, to win this battle completely, we now need to “take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph:6:17).

Scripture tells us boldness in proclaiming God’s word is what is needed to enable God to do what He longs to do, “stretch out his hand to heal and perform signs and wonders”.

Our ‘miracle’ election was just one ‘wonder’. What will happen with Israel Folau in the coming days will be another. As we boldly proclaim His word, more wonders will follow.

When you stand in boldness, proclaiming the word of God, remember:

“No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which shall rise against you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17)

How amazing and wonderful is our God!