Changing Our "Why's" Into "How's"

2 Chronicles 20:1 (NKJV)

1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.

2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar" (which is En Gedi).

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

Jehoshaphat is one of the good kings of Israel. In the 19th chapter of this same book you will read where he set judges up to help turn the people back to God. And he commanded them to judge righteously and according to God’s Law.

2 Chronicles 19:4-7 (NKJV)

4 So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers.

5 Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

6 and said to the judges, "Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment.

7 Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes."

We see that he is a man seeking God and trying to do what’s right and best for himself and the people. But then in the very first verse of chapter 20, there are four words that all of us in here can identify with… It happened after this. The words after this, refers to the actions taken by Jehoshaphat to turn the heart of the people back to God. You would think that things would get better if you’re seeking after God. It would seem logical that good would come out of a king turning the hearts of the people away from idols and to the living God. But instead of prosperity and healing, instead of salvation and deliverance we read the other two words… It happened. Everybody has a story of it happened. I’ve listened to confused church members who said… as soon as they started giving their tithes to God… it happened… the engine blew up in the car or the AC unit burned up at the house.

I’ve heard of others who began to seek God for their lost spouses or children and… it happened… instead of coming to the Light of Christ they ran further into the darkness. And the first question that comes to our mind is “why.” Why is it that after I start doing things right and seeking God, everything falls apart? Why does the greatest battle come after my greatest desire to seek God? Why is it that I’m worse off instead of better since I started praying and fasting? Jehoshaphat was faced with one of those moments. Here he is implementing the Law of God and teaching the people how to live righteously and no sooner does he begin to seek God and… it happened… he gets word from the watchers that not one, not two, but three different kingdoms are coming against him. This would be a good time for Jehoshaphat to go into his bedroom, turn out the lights, start crying uncontrollably and ask… why. But instead of the normal reaction we get verse 3…

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

One of the things that I am discovering in my life is that my questions of “why” are not as important as the question of “how.” For whatever reason, there is a battle raging against me, how do I win?

For whatever reason my finances are being attacked, how do I come out on top? How do I come out victorious and not defeated? How do I finish this battle stronger and not weaker? How do I come out ahead and not behind? How do I come out with more than what I had going into this battle? More wisdom, more strength, more finances, more determination. I’m not going to worry about the “why”, I’ll leave that in God’s hands because the secret things belong to Him (Duet. 29:29); I need to know “how” I’m going to get through it. How am I going to make the devil sorry that he ever came against me and my family? How am I going to make him pay for attacking those that I love and care for? You do realize that we are called to gain ground from the enemy and not lose ground. (Israeli 6 day war… seven nations came against Israel, seven nations were defeated… At the war’s end, Israel not only kept what they had but they gained. They gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.) They could have sat back and said… why are these nations attacking us, but instead of asking “why”, they put a plan in motion based upon the question “how”.