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”.
How do we turn this battle around on the enemy?
3 And Jehoshaphat feared,
Fear will either paralyze you or empower you. It can immobilize you or propel you. It will either cause you to curl up in a fetal position and ask why or it will drive you into survival mode. Jehoshaphat experienced the emotion of fear without allowing it to overcome him. He used it to drive him into God’s presence. The scripture says that he… set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. In his fear maybe he remembered…
Psalms 145:18-20 (NKJV)
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.
Job 5:8-9 (NKJV)
8 "But as for me, I would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause--
9 Who does great things, and unsearchable, Marvelous things without number.
His fear caused him to set himself to seek the Lord through prayer and fasting. He was making a statement that he was not going to take this laying down. No, he was going to go to his God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was saying… If I’ve trusted Him this far, I’m going to trust Him till the end. If I’ve followed Him to this point, I’m going to follow Him the whole way. He was declaring to the enemy… Yes I’m afraid and no I have no physical way of defeating you. But I’m going to the Rock that is Higher than I. I’m looking to the hills from which cometh my strength and I’m calling on the One who has all the answers.
Here is where his “why” turned into “how.”
2 Chronicles 20:5-13 (NKJV)
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
He praises God for who He is…
6 and said: "O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?
He praises God for what He has done…
7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?
8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying,
He reminds God of what He promised…
9 ’If disaster comes upon us--sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine--we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’
He petitions God for their need…
10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir--whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them--
11 here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit.
12 O our God, will You not judge them?
For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
God answers the king’s prayer and defeats the enemies. But the secret of "how" to win the victory is found in these words… “our eyes are upon You.” If our focus is stuck on the "why", defeat will be imminent. Man can’t answer it and God often never reveals it. We must focus on the “how” of getting through this life and doing so victoriously and that is only found on our knees and in His presence.
