Recently I have been thinking about the great truth that no matter who you are or where you live, every life is filled with its share of troubles. Trouble can make us physically sick. It can leave us feeling hopeless. Sometimes we can ignore the trouble and other times we are overwhelmed by it. These are the moments when it becomes critically important that we lean in and trust the Lord.
I am reminded of a story from the book of 2 Chronicles about a King of Judah named Jehoshaphat. He was a good king and a mighty man of God. One day he received word that three different nations were preparing to come against him in Battle; the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the people of Mount Seir. As it happened by the time he received the message, the armies were already closing in. These were large armies with fierce warriors who were well armed and well trained.
And Jehoshaphat was afraid and his people were afraid. Trouble had certainly found them. And so he did the only thing there is to do in such a time, he turned to the Lord and he called his people together and he asked them to fast and pray. And so they did, men, women, children, teenagers, they all fasted and prayed.
Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord and said, Lord, I am overwhelmed, I am afraid, I don’t know what to do. We have no way to fight the great company that has risen up against us.
Sometimes that is where we find ourselves. Calling out to God. Lord I don’t know what to do. This feels bigger than me. I am afraid. This great thing has risen up against me. I am pretty sure I am a goner this time.
I want you to notice what happened next though, the Lord began to speak. He did this not through a pastor, not through the king, but through one of the men who was gathered among them. And the man said, “Thus says the Lord, do not be afraid of this great army that has gathered against you, for the battle is not yours. The battle is God’s. Stand firm. Hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. Do not run from the army but instead, tomorrow go towards the battle and the Lord will be with you.
What if I were to tell you right now, whatever it is that you are facing, whatever problem big or small, the battle is not yours, it is God’s. The Lord is already hard at work fighting on your behalf. But you have to trust him. You have to put it in his hands. Let God turn this battle, this heartache, this sorrow into a blessing. Let God take it out of the enemies hands.
To do this we have to be honest with God about what is going on. It’s ok that we don’t understand it. It’s ok that we are hurting. It’s ok that we don’t know what to do next. We can bring all this to God. We can trust God with it. Who knows, maybe the reason we don’t yet know what to do, is that the battle was never ours to begin with.
Let us pray – God we thank you that you hem us in. You go before us, behind us, and beside us. Help us to trust that whatever troubles this day may bring you are already at work on our behalf. Amen