A vast army was approaching God’s
people to engage them in battle.
“Alarmed,
Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for
Jerusalem. The people of Judah came
together to seek help from the Lord…” (2 Chronicles
20:3-4)
And then during prayer, Jehoshaphat
reminded the people that God is the ruler of all, that power and might belong
to Him. He praised God for being the God
that He is. And then he made his request
for God’s help, admitting they had no power of their own to fight this invading
enemy.
“We do
not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (verse 12)
Then everyone “stood there before the Lord.” (verse
13)
The spirit of the Lord then came
upon one person. And he spoke these
words:
“This is what
the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid
or discouraged because of this vast army.
For the battle is not yours, but God’s. … You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see
the deliverance the Lord will give you … Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged. Go out to face them
tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.” (verses
15 and 17)
“Jehoshaphat
bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem
fell down in worship before the Lord.” (verse
18)
And when tomorrow came, they went
out “early in the morning” to face the enemy
as God instructed. They didn’t delay in
their obedience out of fear or uncertainty or the need for “one more sign” that
this is what God wanted them to do.
They left “early in the morning” to
take their place.
“Have
faith in the Lord our God and you will be upheld…you will be successful.” (verse
20)
They did their part, in faithful
obedience. And they trusted God to do
His part.
And they walked forward in
obedience, not knowing what was going to happen but trusting that God was with
them.
And then … “As
they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against [their enemies]…”
(verse 22) He made the enemies turn on each other and
destroy each other. God’s people never
even had to raise their swords. God
fought their enemies for them.
And what’s more, they got all the
valuable plunder left behind.
Now go back in
this story and put your trials and the overwhelming obstacles you’re facing in
place of the enemies, that vast army that’s coming against you. (For me right now, that would be overwhelming
fears of being the worst homeschooling mom ever, fears of failing at everything
and making the wrong decisions and not being able to do enough.)
And put yourself
in place of God’s people.
And remember that
God is always in His place.
His job is to
battle for us, to lead us in the right path, to handle the things we can’t
handle.
Our job is to
inquire of Him, to seek His help. We
need to stand before Him and wait for Him to tell us what to do, to set our
eyes on Him. And while we wait on Him,
we need to sing His praises, to worship Him for the God that He is.
And when the time
comes, when God gives us our marching orders, we need to obey readily, “early
in the morning,” taking up our position as He calls us to and standing firm in
Him, knowing that He will use our faithful obedience to accomplish His Will and
that He will work it all out somehow, even if we can’t imagine or understand
how.
[And for me right
now, my marching orders are simply to faithfully do my “mom jobs” every day for
His glory, even if I fear that I am doing it wrong or can’t accomplish enough
or that I’ll fail at everything I touch.
I just need to show up every day and be a mom and a wife and a neighbor
and a friend, joyfully and obediently doing the big tasks and the small ones, trusting
that He will work it all together for His good purposes and that He will keep
my enemies (my fears) from destroying me.
Even when I can’t trust myself, I can trust Him. And this is what I can praise Him for during
the hard, fearful times.]
“Do not be afraid
or discouraged because of this vast army.
For the battle is not yours, but God’s. … Have faith in the Lord our God
and you will be upheld…you will be successful.”
The battle doesn’t hinge on if we are strong enough or
capable enough or smart enough. It
hinges on the Lord! He doesn’t need us
to be strong or capable or smart, He just needs us to need Him. To trust Him.
To praise Him for the God He is. To
be obedient to do out part.
And
He will fight the battle for us.
