King Jehoshaphat was alarmed when he heard such an enormous army was headed his way. He knew he did not have enough soldiers to repel it. He began to fast and pray and he ordered all the people to fast and pray with him. The Bible doesn't tell us how much time they had in which to fast and pray but at the end of this time period Jehoshaphat stood before a large assembly in front of the temple and called out to the Lord for help. As he and the men, women, and children stood in front of the temple, he concluded his prayer by saying to the Lord, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You."
The Lord answers. "Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. 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 by the pass 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.'" (2 Chronicles 20:14-17)
Twice in my life so far, during seasons of confusion and heartbreak, the Lord used the passage above to tell me to be still and watch what He would do. He said, "You will not have to fight this battle, for the battle is not yours, but God's." It can be incredibly difficult for us to stand still and do nothing. It can actually take more faith to stand still than to begin taking some form of action. The logic of this world tells us, "Don't just stand there! Do something!" But that's not always what the Lord tells us. Sometimes He tells us, "Don't just do something! Stand there!" That's what He told me during two specific episodes of hardship when I felt like I should do something---and there were several avenues I could have taken---but I didn't know which avenue to take. The Lord told me not to take any of them but to stand firm in faith and watch Him work. He fought those two battles on my behalf! He turned those situations around! I can't take credit for the turnarounds; the Lord alone did the work and the Lord alone deserves the glory. There are times in the Bible when the Lord's people must fight battles (with Him fighting alongside them) and there are times when He does all the fighting for them. Our lives are like this too. There are times when we grow more spiritually by getting down in the trenches with the Lord and there are times when we grow more spiritually by watching Him win the victory for us. He tailors each battle experience to benefit us the most.
"Jehoshaphat bowed down 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." (2 Chronicles 20:18-19) These people praise the Lord in advance of the victory. They believe He will do what He says He will do so they go ahead and thank Him in faith. As the author of the book of Hebrews said, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) The people haven't seen the victory yet but they believe it's coming. They are confident in the Lord and they thank Him for a victory not yet in sight.
We may not always know when or how the Lord will take action on our behalf. But we know He loves us. We know He cares about our distress. If something matters to us, it matters to Him, just as a loving parent is concerned about the concerns of their child. We can be confident that the Lord is going to do something. He may fight the battle for us. He may fight the battle alongside us. He may not remove the problem at all but give us the strength to accept and endure it. He's handled problems in all three of these ways for me. Sometimes He's told me to stand still and let Him win the victory. Other times I've had to go into battle but He's been right there beside me. Then there have been times when I've had to accept a circumstance I didn't want to accept, such as losses of loved ones. But He's held me so lovingly and securely when I've had to accept things that weren't going to change. I didn't like those circumstances and I didn't want those circumstances but He enabled me to accept them and trust that He knew best.
Two months ago today I entered into a very dark season of life. I know that not everyone might get this, especially if you aren't an "animal person" like me, but on November 8th the precious little dog that I treated like a child passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from an unknown neurological cause. I was already struggling with the shorter daylight hours of autumn, plus Daylight Savings Time ended two days before my pup passed, and it felt like I was suddenly plunged into deep darkness---literally and emotionally. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder and have to deal with the winter blues every year but having my dog pass at the same time the days became so short was like a double blow to me. Added to those problems were various others that I won't go into detail about but which were causing me a fair amount of concern. I've been dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since I was a kid (it runs very strongly in my family) and anytime I experience deep emotional distress it sets off a pattern of repetitive, worrisome thoughts so that I feel like I'm stuck in an exhausting loop. Having all these things taking place during the holiday season when I'm supposed to be feeling "merry and bright" made me feel out of sync with most of the people around me because I sure haven't felt merry and bright this time around. But, like Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah, I knew there was a God to whom I could look for help. I couldn't change the fact that my beloved dog died. I couldn't keep the nights from becoming long and dark. I couldn't find any simple or immediate fixes for the other problems that were concerning me. Also, if you or anyone close to you has any type of brain chemistry disorder, you are already aware that a person cannot simply "snap out" of these dreadful moods even though we'd dearly love to . The only thing I knew to do was place my hope in the Lord and look to Him for help.
I'm not feeling all the way better but I'm feeling better than I did a week ago or a month ago or two months ago. I've accepted the events I can't change and I'm trusting the Lord to change the things that can be changed. I can't yet think of specific things to look forward to in this new year but I want to begin looking forward to things again and that's a sign that I'm on the road to recovery. So I thank the Lord for how far He's already brought me and I thank Him for the good things He has in store for me. I don't yet know what those things are but I believe they are coming. I thank Him for the ways He's already comforted and supported me. I thank Him for the plans He has for me: plans to give me hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) In that spirit I'm going to sing His praises, just as in tomorrow's study we'll find the people of Judah singing His praises as they march out in faith to watch Him fight their battle for them.
I'll close by saying that there's a reason why David composed so many songs to the Lord and I don't believe it's because he always felt like singing. You and I studied the life of David together and we know he went through some very dark times. I think he composed songs of praise because singing to the Lord strengthened his faith during times when he didn't yet know how the Lord would work his problems out. I believe David wrote a number of these songs while he was still in the dark, so to speak, regarding how the Lord would help him. You and I can go ahead and begin singing the Lord's praises while we're still in the dark. We may not know the plan and we may not know the way but we know the One who does!
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