The battle is not yours
Show up, but let God fight
As I stumbled across a new bible plan in the Youversion bible app, I stumbled upon one of my new favorite stories in the bible. Granted, I've read this story before, but the depth of it never hit me like it has now.
The story surrounds the King of Judah at the time, his name was Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was a king whose journey started off rocky. He wasn't a perfect king, but He knew the Lord and trusted in Him. His start was unsuccessful because he partnered with the wrong person in one season, he allowed the people in his nation to serve other gods and nearly got killed in a battle he was never meant to be in. Reading his story made me think of us, how sometimes we get connected with the wrong people, turn our backs on biblical principles due to being led away by our own desires, and find ourselves fighting battles that were never meant for us. I felt for Jehoshaphat, because sometimes we don't even know how we've gotten ourselves in the situations we find ourselves in. Thankfully, Jehoshaphat was inclined to turn back to the Lord and rid his nation of the false gods and asherah poles that had been set up by the people. He began praying out to the Lord and making things right within the nation, and when he did he was faced with a battle.
Doesn't that sound familiar? When you turn to the Lord that it feels like now things are coming against you and you are facing trials of many kind?
Three armies formed to come against King Jehoshaphat and Judah. And I love what the King did next…He immediately declared a fast among the people and completely sought the Lord. He assembled all the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the temple and he began to pray this prayer:
Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us. But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
Reading this I nearly cried! King Jehoshaphat went from doing things in his own way, trusting his own wisdom, and disobeying the Lord to completely being dependent on the Lord. This gave me hope for every believer who find themselves in seasons of life leaning to their own understanding and missing the mark. There is still time for you to turn around and seek God. As long as you still have breath you can turn from your current ways and seek God. Just think, a King humbled himself to seek God, someone who had servants under him and great wealth. He realized he was not above seeking and living for God regardless of his wealth and position. I love that despite King Jehoshaphat's past God heard his prayer, He showed up for him in his time of trouble. This was his response:
2 Chronicles 20:15-17 → “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. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”
ITS A FIXED FIGHT —
Have you found yourself in the midst of a battle, whether by your own doing or an unforeseen circumstance? As a business owner or career executive it's so easy to lean to your own understanding. Some believe that because their business has thrived or because they've seen great wealth that they don't need God's assistance. It's so easy to trust in your own wisdom or to trust in your salary. But God wants you to trust in Him.
Your job during the battle is to show up, not believing in your own strength but in God's strength. Even if you created the battle, if you turn to God in repentance, He can help you. The battles that we face are not meant for us to face alone. It's time for the body of Christ to turn from leaning on our own understanding, fighting battles that we aren't meant to fight. Our job is to show up and trust God to win the battle.
P.S. The victory is already won when you have God on your side. It's a fixed fight, victory is God's. The armies that came up against Judah ended up attacking each other and killing every man of the others armies. King Jehoshaphat and his men watched from the distance was able to collect the spoil for all three armies. It took them 3 days to collect everything. GOD IS GOOD!
