Last week I looked at the importance of “stop” (stop and seek the Lord), “look” (look to God for help) and “listen” (listen to what God has to say to you) when you are facing a battle in your life.
All of this is found in 2 Chronicles 20:1-19. But this week I want to look at two other verses that are important to consider when we are facing a battle. Verses 18-19, “Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.”
You see…while God was fighting the battle, they didn’t choose to sit back and watch. They didn’t gloat in what God was doing, nor did they wring their hands in worry about the outcome. When the Lord fights our battles we just need to worship, praise and thank Him.
I wish that I could tell you this is something I have down pat and that this is something I automatically do when the heat is on…but it isn’t. It is something I am still working on. I tend to let stress overtake me.
Ever have a period of time when it seems like things are all just going wrong? Well, the past couple of weeks have been a little rough going around my home. It seems like virtually every area is being affected.
Health-wise, there have been some ongoing issues with my youngest son, which has caused some struggles with his grades.
Money-wise there have been some medical bills piling up and due to a combination of poor planning and somewhat ignorance of how taxes work when you are self-employed; we found out that we owe the government.
Hope-wise due to the money situation, my hopes of being able to attend a writer’s conference in July seems to be diminishing before my eyes.
Possession-wise my van started driving funny and I also discovered that someone had sideswiped it, not bothering to stop and let me know (but they did leave behind some pieces of my van).
Relationship-wise we have been dealing with a lot of division with our kids…I think the hormones are in over-drive in our home!
When health, money, hope, possessions and relationships seem to be a battle it can be difficult to respond with worship and praise…but that is really where the true victory is. The victory isn’t even in solutions. While I would love nothing more than to see my son never deal with another one of his health issues…and money to drop into my lap…and to be able to take that trip to North Carolina…and to have someone step up and admit they hit my van…and our kids to suddenly love on one another…
Well, the real victory—as great as all of this would be—is in being able to praise the Lord in the MIDST of the battle, not just at the end when everything eventually works out. Because I know it does—God is always faithful.
Jehoshaphat was in the midst of a battle yet he chose to bow his face to the ground and worship the Lord…may this be our first response when we are facing battles in our life.
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