A few days ago, I began to clean my office and some closets, trying to rearrange and decide what goes and what should stay. In the sorting, I ran across a book I’d been given about battling cancer. I’ve never had cancer, thankfully, but I love people who have. I struggled with the idea of what to do with the book. If I ever did battle such a thing, I might wish I’d kept it. I know for certain cancer would be a battle that is beyond my ability to handle.
During this same time period, we’ve been watching a Netflix show about the ancient Romans, and talk about battles—bloody ones. The visuals remind me of the Scriptural battles I’ve written about and tried to envision. I hate war on any front, but the ancient Romans were pretty brutal.
Then I happened to be reading a book that also talked about a Scriptural battle that King Jehoshaphat faced in 2 Chronicles. And this is where my post will hopefully begin to make sense.
Side note: When Israel was traveling through the wilderness to the Promised Land, God told them to leave Moab, Ammon, and Edom be. So they did. But one day when Jehoshaphat was king, all three nations came against Israel. For whatever reason, they wanted to destroy Israel. And they had a huge army.
Jehoshaphat was obviously terrified to hear the news, but the first thing he did was to pray. He told God in the hearing of the people that the army was too big for them and they were powerless…but that their eyes were on the Lord because they did not know what to do. The people prayed and fasted and worshiped with him. And as they did, God gave His Word to a prophet among them who told them:
Sometimes we face battles in life like Jehoshaphat did this great army. Our battles may be as awful as cancer, or some other debilitating pain or illness. We may be fighting against people who take issue with us or with whom we disagree. And we draw our lines in the sand and no one is willing to cross them, perhaps because the emotional or relational or physical battle is too much for us. It is beyond our strength to bear.
We’d like to think we are strong human beings, but the truth is we are weak in the face of things we cannot name. We don’t want to be afraid, but there are certainly things we fear. Are we fearing the things that we should?
God told Jehoshaphat that he wasn’t going to have to fight this battle. When the people began singing praises to Yahweh, the enemy was defeated without a single sword or arrow coming from Israel. The enemy fought each other in their confusion.
I think when we face things that are too big for us that we need to remember—who is the One we should fear? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and when we run to Him for refuge, and we seek His face, and we worship Him before the battle begins, He steps in. He may not deliver us the way He delivered ancient Israel, but He can heal our wounds, our worries, our emotional pain, our bitter war with our fellow human beings, our jealousies, our political battles, and so much more.
The question is, do we do that? it’s not easy to admit that something is too hard for us. We like control, don’t we? But when that thing we’ve been clinging to is ripped from our hands, when that hope we’ve been dreaming of is dashed, when the life we thought we wanted comes crashing down around us, where do we go then? Where do we turn?
The battle is too much for us—I know it is for me. I can’t face this life alone. If not for the grace of God, I would have drowned in the waters a long time ago. But God…He has always pulled me up, and when He’s held me, He’s never let go.
How about you? Have you allowed God to fight your battles? Have you learned what it means to worship Him in times of need? (I’m still learning this one.) Have you given Him your pain and decided to look to Him for answers rather than try to come up with them on your own?
If you want victory and peace in life, this is where we need to start. The battle is not yours but God’s. I pray we are all trusting Him to handle what we cannot.
~Selah
#thebattleisthelords #trustinthelord #worshipintimesoftrial #thekindofprayergodhears #trust
