20/20 Vision

20/20 Vision

2 Chronicles 20:20

What is the most common surgery performed in the US?

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the most common surgery is:

Lens and cataract procedures… specifically- laser eye surgery

People want their vision restored to 20/20

When it comes to vision, we Christians should want our spiritual vision to be 20/20

This week I wanted to preach on 20/20 Vision

Naturally, if you want 20/20 Vision you have to go to the one who sees all… God

So I decided to go to the scripture and look for each book that would have Chapter 20 and verse 20. I knew that would be only a few.

I started with Genesis and chapter 20 does not have 20 verses.

Exodus 20:20 was pretty good

Leviticus was NO HELP because it goes somewhere I don’t want to go

Deut., Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel… 1 Chron---NOTHING

But then I got to 2 Chronicles and I hit paydirt… the mother load

Today’s message is “20/20 Vision”

Let’s look at the Bible this morning and see what happens when our spiritual vision is 20/20?

Let’s look at 2 Chronicles, chapter 20

Jehoshaphat is king of Judah

--He’s one of the good kings who tried to follow in the footsteps of his father Asa and worked hard at keeping the people of Judah faithful to God

vs. 1 tells us that the Moabites, the Ammonites, and some of the Meunites have conspired together to attack Judah

They know that Judah is God’s people and has the help of God

They cannot take Judah alone, but think they can if they gang up on Israel

b. Jehoshaphat is told, Son you’re in a heap of trouble. A huge army from several countries is coming to whoop up on you. They’re coming from Moab, on the other side of the Dead Sea. You don’t have much time either, they are already o this side of the sea and will be here soon.

You’ve probably heard someone say, “Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat”

That is because Jehoshaphat jumped up and said, “we’ve got a lot to do and not much time to do it.

Now, Jehoshaphat was a second generation man of faith.

His daddy was a man who trusted and followed God, and Jehoshaphat did the same thing.

So, Jehoshaphat knew what to do when trouble comes knockin’ and I want us to learn from him

In many ways our church is like Judah

The Judah that Jehoshaphat ruled was “not your grandfather’s Israel.

Israel had been much larger. In fact, the nation Jehoshaphat ruled was only 2/12 of its earlier size.

Look around you… see what I mean

We are also like Judah because we are facing a mass attack from multiple enemies.

Our church is facing a lot of problems… you knew that when you called me.

I had members of this church who came to me and said, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

We face problems of our own making and some that are not our fault.

We have those who went out from us and they did it with one goal in mind… to destroy this church.

They have proselyted our members and spread lies about us.

We have other enemies that are against us too.

But Jehoshaphat knew that God had not given up on Judah, like I know God has not given up on First Baptist.

So Jehoshaphat made some very smart moves and I need to follow his example.

The first thing he did was determine to seek God for help and direction.

Look at verse 3, “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD…”

He did not gather advisors or a committee… he knew exactly where to get help.

“He set himself” means he committed himself to hearing what God had to say

He turned all of his attention to seeking God’s vision

That is what we are doing too. We are seeking a vision, a direction and a plan from God.

We’re not just trying to take someone else’s vision… like purpose driven church… but we are seeking God’s Word , God’s plan, God’s vision for THIS church, at THIS time

And God DID have a plan. In fact, God told Jehoshaphat, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this on lock-down. This is not your fight. I’ll take care of it. ”

He has our future on lock down too

The next thing Jehoshaphat did was declare a national fast.

“… and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.”

Why did Jehoshaphat call for a fast? What does a fast do?

Jehoshaphat knew that the problems he had were not regular problems and the help they needed was not regular help.

Jehoshaphat knew they had to amp it up to the next level