Alarmed but Resolved, Shocked but not Shaken. Part one

The Bible story I am about to share is for anyone that is facing a battle that is bigger than you can cope with alone. 2 Chronicles 20:17 “You will not have to fight this battle.” God often takes what the enemy means for evil and He flips it for something good. “Take up your positions stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.” – When you are facing a problem, don’t believe the devil when he tells you there is nothing you can do about it, or that you must face it with your own strength and ingenuity, “go out to face them tomorrow and the lord will be with you.”

We are told, in a cliché that can apply to parenting or marriage, to “chose your battles” but what do you do when the battle chooses you. What do you do when the devil drops something off for you to deal with that you did not directly cause, choose, or anticipate, like Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1 was told one morning. It was a time of spiritual renewal for Judah (the Southern Kingdom of Israel). It was a time of great momentum spiritually. But just when everything is going well, the Bible says, “the Moabites and ammonites came to make war on Jehoshaphat and some men came and told Jehoshaphat a vast army is coming at you from Edom from the other side of the sea.” This means they are sneaking up from behind, they are going around the dead sea and then coming back up to attack the people of God on a little-known route. They are 40 kms out, which means Jehoshaphat doesn’t have time to develop a strategy and get his army ready. It’s coming and it is coming now!

Have you ever had anything sneak up on you like that – a text message, an email, or a phone call – and you were not ready for it, you must deal with it now. You are caught off guard. It was a surprise attack. So, watch what Jehoshaphat did. He went to God. This surprise attack drove him into the presence of God. The text says they were already on his doorstep, so in v3 it says the response was urgent. He was alarmed but he was resolved. He had a determination to seek the Lord even in the face of an unexpected attack. We don’t always respond this way. Jehoshaphat, two chapters earlier had teemed up with wicked King Ahab to do what seemed smart and almost got himself killed. It was a battle he should never have gotten into. We can wear ourselves out swinging at things we are not even supposed to fight and wear ourselves out and not have the energy to fight the fights God wants us to.

Notice Jehoshaphat did not pray some glib prayer, he enquired of the Lord, this is not just getting some feeling and going with it and calling it God. This is not slapping a scripture verse on something you wanted to do anyway. Jehoshaphat was shocked but he wasn’t shaken. He didn’t see this coming, Ammon, Moab and the Edomites; that’s three of them. He could fight one, but there’s three, and that’s bigger than his ability and it’s coming up from behind. Have you ever had something bigger than you that came up from behind.

Jehoshaphat’s prayer is interesting because he’s praying about the three enemies. We have three enemies also. We have the world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:15-17). That’s our enemy. That’s the values that oppose your purpose, the patterns that oppose your purpose and the principalities that oppose your purpose, and you could fight one. But how do you fight all three at once? Together they are bigger than you and they come up from behind.

Jehoshaphat resolved to seek the Lord, that means he involved the priests and Levites – he got surrounded by the right people. He’s not going to Ahab this time; he’s not asking all his friends what they think. He’s going to the right place. But he doesn’t have a plan. Notice his prayer, because it will help you if you are facing a battle that’s bigger than you and it snuck up on you from behind. Read v3-5. Read what he prayed and then pray it yourself. He starts reminding God of what He said.

What a prayer it was! How argumentative! How it pleads his case as an advocate in a court of law, appealing to the mercy of God as logically as if it were to be argued before the divine heart. Oh, how good it would be if we learnt to pray like this, — in this earnest, forceful fashion!

Notice Jehoshaphat has already shifted from what is coming against him to the God of the Universe. He reminds God (and himself) of what He had already done. Read vs5-12. In v10 he reminds God Moses was told not to attack the Edomites because they were the descendants of Esau and so now, they are coming for Judah. TBC