The Battle Belongs to The Lord

“After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.
Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”
2 Chronicles 20;1-4

Jehoshaphat was facing great threat and danger, the Moabites and Ammonites were coming with one intention - to wage war upon him, and to destroy him. Sometimes in life it can feel like we have our own army of ‘ites’ after us! ‘Fear-ites’, ‘finance-ites’, ‘illness-ites’, ‘stress-ites’, ‘uncertainty-ites’, the list goes on. When it comes to fighting our own battles in life however, I think we can learn a lot from Jehoshaphat’s strategy.
 
The first thing that we see Jehoshaphat feel is fear. Naturally I think most of us would. However, he did not let that fear overtake him. He did something else: He set himself to ‘inquire of the Lord’. In fact, so determined was he to hear from God, that instead of focusing on all those ‘ites’ trying to stop him from moving forward in God's plans, he proclaimed a fast throughout the land. He needed a battle plan, and knowing he didn’t have the answers, he fixed his eyes, and all the eyes of his people on the One Who did!
 
Jehoshaphat put himself in a position of total dependence on God. After a brief moment of fear, he quickly arrived at a place of rest, eyes fixed on Him, waiting with utter trust that He had the situation in hand. He knew His God would deliver him.
 
I often think how much grief and stress would I save myself, if I too were to skip the fruitless task of trying to work things out in my own strength, and fast forward to that place of utter surrender and dependence on Him.
 
Jesus said ‘apart from me you can do nothing’. Without faith we cannot please God, and He wants our relationship with Him to be one of complete dependence. Because it's through our faith that we put ourselves in the position of receiving from Him. I love how the amplified bible describes faith as “the leaning power of the entire human personality in absolute trust in His power, wisdom and goodness”. Almost like coming to rest in a big comfy armchair, allowing your entire weight to sink into its form.
 
When trials come, the truth is we don’t have the answers. But we can grow to a place where we are satisfied to know the One Who does. And when we arrive in that place, we have the joy and peace in knowing that He will do something wonderful - and we can simply enjoy watching him do it!
 
I’ll close part one with a few lines from one of my favourite worship songs 'God I Look to You'. Maybe you can make this your prayer today...
 

‘God I look to You
I won’t be overwhelmed
Give me vision to see things like you do.
God I look to you
You’re where my help comes from
Give me wisdom - You know just what to do!’