Sometimes we grow fatigued sauntering through our daily state of affairs. The chin splints of trekking through life are killing us! We loose our energy and chutzpah (nerve) to keep fighting and running. I must clarify that that there is a place for battle, but it is important that we seek the Lord and know when we are to battle with weapons in our hands, like when the Children of Israel crossed over the Jordan river, or if we are to stand and see the salvation of our God, like Jehoshaphat did when he defeated Moab and Ammon without lifting a finger in battle! Nevertheless, we always have to dress for battle and be ready and that is tiring enough!
You may have heard the old cliché and chiastic structure, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This implies that we need to sprint through our daily struggles like tough bring home the bacon woman fighting our battles with a spatula and masher in our hands. As you can see, this quote implies that we need to muster up enough vigor to do it ourselves. This is the world’s thinking and is contrary to what the Bible says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13- NIV). Our success is grounded in Christ who strengthens us, and this is, my friend, is where victory presides!This is why we can get dressed for battle and arm ourselves!
Ephesians six tells us who our enemy is, how to dress for battle, and ironically, after doing all of that, we are instructed to stand. For example, there have been situations with my husband where I refused to listen to God’s gently urging to let him figure it out on his own, to let God handle it, and to let go. It took me a long time to figure out that pestering him was not going to work. I can be stubborn and that makes me a slow learner sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I had to learn to trust that God would give me the strength to stand still and wait.
So, I think we can agree on the standing and having to wait sometimes, but what do we do while we are staring down that scary hill looking down at our ashes, such as arthritis, depression, muscular dystrophy, floaters, thyroid disease, etc.? We have a choice to see what God sees, or we can look with natural eyes. I am not telling you to visualize something into happening; I am telling you to see yourself as God sees you. He sees you as a whole spirit being. In 2nd Chronicles 20:17 it says to “stand still and see the deliverance of God.” Take the word for truth and see your deliverance today.
So I was reading 2 Chronicles 20 in preparation for worship service tomorrow and just about interrupted King Jehoshaphat’s plight. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall. Since I cannot, I read it very closely to learn about how he handled his predicament. Let’s take a look at 2nd Chronicles 20 and trace the steps of King Jehoshaphat:
He called a fast in his kingdom when he heard a great enemy was coming (V 3). If you are looking at a giant, fast. That’s the first step. If you have a special medical diet, talk to your doctor and ask what you can fast from. You may have already been told not to eat certain things, and this is a fast from those things. Turn your fast and action towards God.
He gathered his people and told them to seek God (V 4). Gather your friends to seek God with you. They can do it in their own homes. If you do not have many friends or are a shut-in, call your church to pray for you!
He prayed (VS 5-12). It’s time to pray. I don’t mean the quick get it over with I’m busy prayer, “Jesus, heal me. Amen”; I mean take the TIME to pray and seek God. Read His word and pray about the promises you read.
Jahaziel prophecies to the king and tells him not to fear, to stand still and see the deliverance of God (VS 14-17). I write a lot about fear. I think it’s because it’s an easy crutch to fall back on. Sometimes the words “I’m afraid” jet out of my mouth without me even thinking it. I have to correct my speech and let the devil know that I don’t believe his lies. There are times that I do recognize that I am fearing a situation. In those cases, I take that thought into captivity and deal with it. I give thanks God! I am learning to stand and wait for the Lord to handle my battles. So much emotion is wasted when we worry and get flustered!
They worshiped God (V 18). This is simple and something we can all do. Worship Him because He is Lord. That’s it!
They praised the Lord (V 19). When I read this scripture, I see people jumping, shouting, routing for God like they are at a football game and the team’s quarterback is about to make a touchdown that will win the game. They see the touchdown and crazy like praise breaks out! This is the kind of praise the Lord inhabits. The Lord does not desire to inhabit the praises of wimpy, lazy, half-hearted, shallow praise that we have been guilty of offering up during worship service from time-to-time. He is looking for a people who will be thankful and give it all they’ve got!
They believed the prophet and were thankful (V 20). We must believe God before we can thank Him. Because the people believed God, they were able to thank Him. Do you believe that God will deliver you? If you do, than a spirit of thankfulness and praise should break out of you!
They got dressed, sang, and praised God the next morning. They approached battle with praise on their lips and the battle was won (VS 21- 22). Once again they gave it all they had. They approached the battlefield but knew that God was with them. The stood there praising and waiting. Their shouting was so loud, that Ammon and Moab’s people did not see the ambush, which was the people of Mount Seir, whom God sent after them! All of them died in confusion and not one of Jehoshaphat’s people were touched!
This tells me that the battle is truly the Lords. I am going to do to do a lot more standing and waiting, while seeking, praying, and praising. I have learned first hand that these are things that I can do with Christ’s help!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%2020&version=NKJV
