Lessons from Jehoshaphat

Today our office met for a time of listening to God and lifting up our praises and challenges. Pete led us to 2 Chronicles chapter 20. I don’t know about you, but 2 Chronicles probably wouldn’t be my first thought as a go-to passage, but in chapter 20 we find this amazing story of God’s provision, faithfulness and the wonderful response of His people in the face of great difficulty.

Here’s the “Sarah Version” summary of the story:
Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah, and he heard that a huge army of enemy nations was advancing toward his own people. He decided to go before the Lord, and in front of all the peoples, led in this amazing prayer honoring God and asking for his judgment and power to be shown to the enemy. One of the men among the group proclaimed a message from God, that the Lord was going to fight on their behalf. The people worshiped the Lord then and there, and prepared to meet the coming army. As they set out the next day, Jehoshaphat realized that the power was not in their weapons or physical strength, but in God’s might, and they sent a group ahead to sing praises to God. The Lord did indeed fight the battle on their behalf, and the warring nations fought amongst themselves, wiping each other out. When Jehoshaphat and his army arrived, the whole enemy army was already dead. They got together again and praised the Lord for how He had delivered them. This was a witness to the nations around them of God’s sovereignty and power.

I was really amazed reading and reflecting on this story. There are so many “mountains” in the path of our organization right now: the long process of remodeling the building, budget shortfalls, personal transitions and struggles in the lives of individual staff members, the need to recruit and train teams to go to the unreached areas, and many more. Yet, the battle is the Lord’s. This doesn’t mean we sit by and let Him do all the work. Jehoshaphat and his army still went out to meet the enemy to do battle. But instead we need have our focus in the right place. I love how they sent out the group to lead the way in singing and praising God. My focus is so often on how big the challenges are that I forget to give praise to the One who can move mountains.

Do you have a struggle in your life right now that threatens to overtake you? I encourage you to read 2 Chronicles for yourself and look to our powerful God to fight the battle for you.