2 Chronicles 20

Jehoshaphat was a godly, faithful and in fact a good king, yet all of the good qualities did not exempt him from being troubled by others. Three nations waged war against Judah. You know when you ask yourself the question, why do I get troubled by people around me despite my good intentions? Yea, it was the same for Jehoshaphat.

2 Chronicles 20: 1 – three nations against one is enough to make one tremble in fear, (really if I was told three people are planning to fight me, I will be afraid not to talk of three nations). Jehoshaphat was afraid, shaken, terrified, but he did not remain in fear, he took actions to kick fear away, he conquered fear (don’t settle for fear, take actions that will silent fear!). vs 3 – ‘..he set himself’, he prepared himself, he was determined to seek help from God. Hmmm, this makes me wanna ask the question, what do you do when you are afraid?

Vs 6 – he prayed, pay close attention to his prayers. the first thing he did was inaugurate praise. He praised God for who He is, before anything else. At times when we are in distress, we are tempted to start complaining and grumbling ( for example; ‘God why now’), this king in his troubled heart remembered to render praises to God. Praise God First! even with that heart that is full of request, sometimes we only remember to praise God when we are happy and everything is going smooth . “Prayer gives us power to face battle”

Vs 10 – 12 he identifies the problem, one problem is three nations are waging war against Judah and they are a great multitude, (more than them of course) another is that they have no might/power against the forces, and they don’t know what to do (they are confused and powerless). “Identify the problem before seeking help”.

He called on God for help and God answered, he spoke through Jahaziel saying; “…be not afraid (God noticed their fear, He knows when you are troubled, just ask him for help, he will come to your rescue) …for the battle is not yours but God’s” (wow! do you know what would have happened even Jehosaphat decided to fight that battle on his own, he would have ended up fighting a battle not his, and be defeated). Vs 17 – “you shall not need to fight in this battle”

They went into this battle with praises and singing and came back with praises and singing. See when God gives instructions it might not make sense oo Just do it, I mean does it make sense to just stand still in the midst of war instead of fighting?, Judah’s enemies was confused and they fought themselves till they all ended up killed. I pray that God will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.

Lola Grace