If you are a Christian, if you are a follower of Christ, you should be working on growing in the faith. After all, aside from Jesus being fully human, there isn’t a human being that has “arrived” this side of eternity. Often times, that growth means we need to work on healing. That healing could be past trauma, church hurt, relationship wounds, addictions, etc. Too often, our culture wants to stuff those hurts deep down and pretend they aren’t there. When we stuff down and bottle up those wounds, when we don’t heal, we tend to bleed all over those who didn’t hurt us.
But healing is not an easy process. In fact, sometimes, it is downright painful. Think of any type of surgery. Surgery happens to fix (or heal) a problem inside. A wound, or incision, has to be made for the healing process to happen. While we have modern day drugs to keep us from feeling that initial incision, that wound still hurts. In order to heal, we have to go through the pain of the process. That pain is meant for our good!
John 10:10 reminds us that Christ has come so that we may have abundant life. That abundant life includes healing! He doesn’t want us to walk around as a shell of who we were meant to be because we haven’t healed from past hurts. But, friends, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. If you are healing, he isn’t winning.
So what does this all mean for us? It means we need to prepare for the battle that lies ahead.
If you have a Bible handy, you may want to open to 2 Chronicles 20 to follow along with the story… I’ll give you a second to go grab one or pull one up online…
Alright, let’s jump in:
After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to fight against Jehoshaphat. People came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast number from beyond the Dead Sea and from Edom has come to fight against you; they are already in Hazazon-tamer” (that is, En-gedi). Jehoshaphat was afraid and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all Judah, who gathered to seek the Lord. They even came from all the cities of Judah to seek him.
2 Chronicles 20:1-4
In response to being faced with an unexpected battle, their response, simply put was to: seek the Lord, worship the Lord, and obey the Lord.
Seek the Lord
Elisabeth Elliot had this to say about fear: “fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.” Jehoshaphat recognized that if they were in big trouble if they tried to handle it themselves. His fear didn’t cause him to run or hide or foolishly attempt to do it on their own. Rather, Jehoshphat’s fear led him to seek the Lord. They needed divine intervention and so he sought it – in an intentional and powerful way!
First, we see him gathering everyone together. Community matters! You need to have other believers that you can be real and raw with. Scripture reminds us that where two or three are gathered He is there (Matthew 18:20). The truth is, He is always with you. But when we come together, when we seek Him together, the power of the Holy Spirit can be unleashed at a new level.
Then, he called for a corporate fast. We don’t talk about fasting often in the modern day church, but, again, there is more power to be found when we do what the Lord asks. Fasting diverts our attention away from our flesh to the very real spiritual realm.
The community prayer can be found in verses 6-12. Essentially, they acknowledge who God is and what He has done for them throughout the generations that came before. But I love how the prayer ends:
Our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to you.
2 Chronicles 20:12
We don’t know what to do, so we look to you. This situation might look completely hopeless through our earthly eyes. But we know, we believe, that You can see a reality far greater. We believe, that with Your intervention, that not all hope is lost.
A quick reminder here, we have something they did not: The Bible. We have the living, breathing, and active Word of God. When we seek the Lord today, it MUST include opening and reading Scripture. He has promised to speak through His word. Seek Him through prayer, through fasting, and by listening for His voice as you lean into His word.
Worship the Lord
Once the Lord responded to their prayers (and we’ll get into more of that in just a bit), their immediate response, before the battle was even won, was to worship.
‘Tomorrow, go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.’ Then Jehoshaphat knelt low with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to worship him. Then the Levites from the sons of the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel shouting loudly.
2 Chronicles 20:17b-19
We need to be thanking God before we even have the answer. We need to be thanking God for His goodness and mercy as we receive the cancer diagnosis or as we walk away from the job we were just fired from or _____________ (insert difficult situation here). I say that, knowing how incredibly hard that can be. Sometimes, choosing to worship, seems impossible.
Instead of putting their best men on the front lines, instead of placing armed men with shields. No, Jehoshaphat led their march into battle with WORSHIP!
In the morning they got up early and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for the Lord and some to praise the splendor of his holiness. When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing:
Give thanks to the Lord,
for his faithful love endures forever.The moment they began their shouts and praises, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and completely annihilated them. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.
2 Chronicles 20:20-23
Belief and worship go hand in hand!! You guys, THE VERY MOMENT they began to worship is the very moment the Lord began to fight their battle for them! Worship is warfare!! In the book Ultimate Exodus, Danielle Strickland writes, “sometimes you sing because you believe and sometimes you sing until you believe – and both are good. That’s because worship shifts things. Worship is warfare – a confrontation of spiritual power, realigning us with truth…Worship helps us imagine a better world. It is, perhaps what worship is designed to do…The longer we worship God, the more we can imagine a better world.”
Worship is a weapon. Don’t ever forget it! In the words of a current worship song, we worship, or we raise a hallelujah, in the presence of our enemies, in the middle of the mystery, louder than our unbelief….and heaven will come to fight for us…
And, last but not least, they worshipped when the battle was won:
They assembled in the Valley of Beracah on the fourth day, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore, that place is still called the Valley of Beracah today.
Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem turned back with Jehoshaphat their leader, returning joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord enabled them to rejoice over their enemies. So they came into Jerusalem to the Lord’s temple with harps, lyres, and trumpets.
2 Chronicles 20:26-28
How easy it can be to forget this. We get the healing, we get the answer but without that guttural desperation – we forget Who is responsible for the rescue. How easy it is to move forward in life without having to depend on Him anymore… We have to remember to worship when the battle is over.
Obey the Lord
Many times throughout Scripture God gives instructions that don’t seem to make a lot of sense. For instance, washing leprosy off in a river, building a giant boat in the middle of a desert, getting money from the mouth of a fish…and SO many more…
Let’s go back to the Lord’s response to Jehoshaphat’s prayer:
Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.’”
2 Chronicles 20:15-17
Listen to those words again: Do not be afraid or discouraged – The KJV uses the word dismayed here, which I rather prefer. But, more perfectly, the Hebrew word here, hatat, means to break down, to be prostrate – used in both a literal and figurative sense. How many of us have run into that literal break down? Lying in a pile on the floor, sobbing, unsure of how to move forward. I’ve been there. Break downs happen, literally and figuratively. I think that God is reminding us here, that we don’t have to end up in this place. If we are prostrate on the floor, it should be a posture of prayer, not of uncertainty. Why? For the battle is not yours, but God’s. He is fighting our battles, we are not alone!
Remember, our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers, principalities, and rulers of darkness, of spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). While it often seems like our battles are against another person, there is a greater spiritual reality happening, there are other powers at play. Satan is warring for your soul and he will use anything, or anyone, to accomplish that goal of destruction. So how do we fight a battle we can’t even see? We depend on Him.
His instructions to the people of Judah were this: go down against them – in other words, prepare for battle. Get ready, and go out. But as He continues, He says, you do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
Though these instructions seemed counter intuitive – if we aren’t going to battle, why are we going at all? Why can’t we just stay here? – they remained obedient.
Conclusion / Result
When Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked for the large army, but there were only corpses lying on the ground; nobody had escaped. Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to gather the plunder. They found among them an abundance of goods on the bodies[f] and valuable items. So they stripped them until nobody could carry any more. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.
2 Chronicles 20:24-25
I wondered as I studied this passage: What if they hadn’t prepared for battle? What if they had stayed home in the comfort of their kingdom? I think they would have missed the blessing. I think it’s entirely possible that God could have still defeated the enemy – but they would have never discovered the spoils of war, the abundant treasure that lie waiting for them. If they had stayed, they would have traded treasure for comfort.
How often does our lack of obedience lead to missing a blessing? And we don’t even know it….
How often do we trade the treasures of Heaven for the comfort of this world? But, maybe that’s a topic for another day. Let’s get back to Jehoshaphat…
The terror of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. Then Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet, for his God gave him rest on every side.
2 Chronicles 20:29-30
You guys, God often goes above and beyond what we ask or expect! They needed help in that moment, with those enemies. But God used that one circumstance to protect the Kingdom for years to come from multiple potential enemies.
In conclusion, the battles we face in this life may be tremendously difficult, but, I believe, they are worth it. Remember, Romans 8:28 reminds us that God will work all of this (the good, the bad, and the ugly) together for our good and His glory.
Not only is He with you, but these battles also bring opportunities for Him to show you more of who He is. As you lean into the difficult, allow God to show you what He can do, allow Him to fight the battle for you.
Position yourself, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord (vs. 17).
voyage together 