God’s Battles

6.21.2011

2 Chronicles 20:15 15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! 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. NIV

Enemies attack; diagnoses come. Employment ends; lives end. Fires, flood, and calamity happen. Family feuds fester. Life is full of unexpected battles and difficulties of all shapes and sizes which seem to always come at the worst possible moment. The question is not if they come, but how we respond when they do.

Judah was attacked by the nations of Moab and the Ammon. Moab and Ammon were simmering pots of racial hatred just waiting for the right moment to boil over against Judah. Such a moment happened under the leadership of Jehoshaphat King of Judah.

Jehoshaphat, when facing this vast army of hatred breathing enemies – brilliantly – called upon the Lord, “God, what shall we do!?” We see in his story bridging 1 Kings 22; 2 Kings 1-3; 2 Chronicles 17-20. Jehoshaphat, for one, got it – he understood that his power and authority came from God and that is where he received his marching orders. Over and over Jehoshaphat sought the Lord’s wisdom and advice and blessing; he was a rare jewel among God’s kings in Judah.

On this occasion, God simply reminded Jehoshaphat, the battle was the Lord’s. In our own stories it is no different. Whatever happens to us, whenever it happens, is the Lord’s business, not ours. Faith is not the means whereby we, by ourselves under the Lord’s watching eye, solve all of our problems; faith is the ability to hand whatever, whenever, over to God trusting Him with the outcome. God doesn’t want us to pick and choose our battles and keep the ones we think we can win and give Him the ones we think we can’t – God wants them all. That’s faith.

And faith leads to deliverance. God handles the big stuff and the little stuff. The battle is His. Let’s remember today that the gift of faith is the gift of giving all the frustrating and confounding and confusing stuff over to God and follow His lead wherever it takes us. The battles are His to help us remember whose they are…

Father in Heaven,
Whether it’s great big or really little may I honor You by giving all of my battles over to You and honoring You with faith that no matter the outcome, in You I win! In Jesus, amen.