Definitely Worth a 2nd Read!!

Today in my daily Bible reading I came upon 2 Chronicles 20. Now, to tell you the truth, Chronicles hasn't really been the most delightful read. There are alot of kings doing alot of their own thing instead of God's thing, but there are some great stories in there too. However, today's reading was a whopper!! I just love King Jehoshaphat's reaction to a huge attack leveled against him by "a VAST multitude". At first he was afraid which I can surely appreciate. But his fear had a positive effect upon him as "he resolved to seek the Lord" when he had heard this news. He proclaimed a fast for ALL of JUDAH so they would all seek the Lord with him and then he prayed the most magnificent prayer. This prayer is just so amazing because it reinforces the truth about who God is. How quickly we forget His omnipotence and think that the battle is ours to somehow win. Read this & be mightily encouraged!

"Lord God of our ancestors are you not the God who is in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?
Power and might are in your hand and NO ONE CAN STAND AGAINST YOU...
Our God will you not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast multitude that comes to fight against us.
We do not know what to do BUT WE LOOK TO YOU." 2 Chron. 20: 6-12

After this beautiful, humble admission of truth, the Lord replies through the prophet Jahaziel:

"Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast multitude, FOR THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS BUT GOD'S...position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord...tomorrow go out to face them for the Lord is with you!" vs 15-17

Don't you love God's advice for going into battle? We need to hear those words so often in life...and God says them often in the Scriptures...Do not be afraid. The beauty of all of this is that NOTHING has changed... God is still the God who is the ruler over all the kingdoms & the battle still belongs to the Lord. There is, of course, the important component of our obedience in warfare, but it doesn't change who God is and what He is capable of doing with or without our help!

The day of the battle, Jehoshaphat gets up and instead of just worrying about the physical aspects of the battle formation etc. etc., he makes sure that there are singers going in front of the battle formation "to praise the splendor of His holiness" and as they walked before the army they kept singing these amazing words:

"Give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love endures forever" vs. 21

And this next part is enough to make you want to stand up and begin praising right this moment...listen to this:

"The moment they began their shouts and praises the Lord set an ambush against [their enemies] and they were defeated". vs 22

WOOHOO!! You've gotta love that kind of warfare.
Sooo, the challenge in this moment for me, in this day, this week, this season of my life is to Give thanks to the Lord! To shout and praise Him and declare how incredibly good and amazing and powerful and wonderful He is. Over and over again. Every single day. Worship will win the battle. It puts everything back into proper perspective.

NO ONE CAN STAND AGAINST GOD. None of my enemies can stand against my God. And I know that ultimately I only have one enemy and I would rather look at Jesus and concentrate on His plans for me any day, rather than spend time looking at my enemy and getting freaked out.

So there it is. A powerful message in a book that hasn't quite been my favorite. I'm glad I'm persevering through the whole BOOK so that I come upon these treasures in surprising places!