What is important is that God has preserved these words for us and they apply to many circumstances in life. The proverb that Ahab is quoting simply means: "Don't boast of victory before the battle, like the one who has finished and is taking his armor off." That warning applies to young people who are sure that they can do better than their parents or elders or teachers; or workers who can do better than their bosses. Most people who finish the course of life will soberly admit that much of their youthful enthusiasm for what they planned to accomplish has not materialized. Good health, little history of failures and limitations, and the failure to recognize all the obstacles of life, easily give way to a poorly-grounded braggadocio. In our youth, especially, we all have done this. We were going to change the world. We would do things much better than our parents did. We would handle everything better and be more prosperous. But we were only putting the armor on and the battle had not yet begun.

Yes, life is filled with many conflicts. The greatest enemy may not be the Devil or the world, but the weakness of our own flesh characterized by a false self-confidence. The Apostle Paul realized this: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice" (Rom. 7:18-19). There is often a gap between conception and realization in the things we are called on to do.

These words of Ahab do not tell us that we should never put the armor on or that we should avoid the battle. For Christians in this sinful world, the battles against true faith are unavoidable. All Christians are warned to put on the "whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (cf. Eph. 6:10-20). Avoiding the struggle to live a faithful life is impossible. We do, however, have to take stock of our resources. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Lk. 14:28-33).

Does this lead us to despair? How will we face the battles of our life? There is no room for boasting in ourselves, but there is room for absolute confidence. Even Ahab had God's prophet come to him and assure him that he would win this battle (1 Kg. 20:13). We have a Savior and King who said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). Of the saints and their battle with Satan it can be said, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Rev. 12:11).

How can we have confidence that we will not be defeated? John gives us the answer: "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 Jn. 5:4-5). It is in Jesus that sin and guilt is removed; that the power of sin is broken; and through whom we have God's Holy Spirit. It is in Jesus, who conquered death, that we have the victory (1 Cor. 15:57).

"Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle (Ps. 144:1). As we face the battles of the life of faith, there is no room for boasting as though we had won the battle. In the end we will have to admit that we have been "unprofitable servants, only doing our duty." That duty is to remain faithful by the grace of God. It is that grace and strength we pray for each day. Paul tells Timothy, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses" (1 Tim. 6:12). When the battle is finished, we may be able to say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7).

Whether young or old, we should pay attention to these words God has preserved for us, "Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off."