I have been deeply influenced by the life experiences of Dr. Yisu Das Tiwari, the father of Dr. Ravi Tiwari, the former Registrar of Senate of Serampore University in India. He was a Brahmin Convert. One day when he took baptism and returned home, the door was shut at his face. He was given the option to denounce his faith or leave the house, he was beaten up with a stick by his mother, and his family forsook him never to be reconciled again. But he responded to this situation with complete faith in his newly found Saviour Jesus Christ. Well, each one of us go through difficult times as this or different than this. The important thing is not that we go through tough times, but important thing is that how do we respond to such a situation. Keeping this aspect in my mind I have entitled my message as-
Responding to a Difficult Situation
Text 2 Chronicles 20:1-30
In this text we have read about King Jehoshaphat who is facing one of the most difficult situations of his life. He is informed in v.2 that a vast army is coming against him from Edom and that vast army includes Moabites and Ammonites and some Meunites. They are not coming to have fellowship with him but to rage war against him and kill him and his people and to snatch away whatever he has. We may not understand the intensity of the situation as the text narrates it in a very simple prosaic manner. But the people of Kandhmal may be able to understand the exact situation and perplexity Jehoshaphat and his people might have gone through. Let us just see who this Jehoshaphat was. Jehoshaphat was the 4th king of the separated kingdom of Judah who ruled from around 875 to 850 B.C. He was one of those few kings who loved the Lord and a zealous follower of the commandments of God. In his 3rd year he sent out certain priests, and Levites, to go through all the cities of Judah, teaching the people out of the Book of the Law. Because he sought the Lord, riches and honors increased around him. “Jehoshaphat sought the Lord with all his heart” (2 Chr. 22:9).
Judah does not seem to have done anything to provoke this attack, or to have had any reason to expect it. It came upon them like a clap of thunder in a clear sky. Such things do occur to nations, to churches, to families, to individuals. In this perplex situation what does he do? Verse 3 tells that “alarmed Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.” This was a purposeful act that grew out of his relationship with God. Now let us see how he responds to this tough situation.
1) Recalling who God is and what has he done in the past (vv 6-9)- In these verses Jehoshaphat stands before his people and speaks to God. He recalls all that God has done for them in the past. He is able to say “Are you not our God?” (vv. 6, 7) In these verses he is not reminding God who he is, but reminding himself and his people and showing them a bigger picture of God’s magnificence. Jehoshaphat has a unique way of offering his prayer. He is nowhere asking God for helping them to win over their enemies. He is not trying to get God’s attention but focuses on his greatness. Bobbye Byerly, a woman who has written a book called, “Miracles Happen” talks about prayer and says that we must remember that praying is not about getting God’s attention. The purpose of prayer is to focus our attention on him. If we just jump into our problems then we are trying to drag God's attention into our problems, but if we first begin by focusing in on the greatness of God and the promises he has made and the history that we have had with God help us to focus on the greatness of God, it is like putting our attention on him because his attention is already on us.
When we find ourselves in a similar situation how do we respond. We mostly focus on the gravity of the present situation and forget what God has done in the past. The situation at hand seems to us as more fatal than all what we have faced in the past. Recalling what God has done in the past is an overarching theme of most of the psalms of David. He recalls the mighty acts of God in the past which strengthens him in the present and fills him with hope for the future. Jehoshaphat reminds his people of the past in order to fill them with hope that God can do the same even now.
2) Presenting his case before God (vv. 10-11)- In these verses Jehoshaphat presents his case before God. He is not trying to justify himself but saying that these are the same people whom God did not allow to be perished by the hands of Israelites when they were on their way to occupy the Promised Land. He is pleading before God to do justice by saying, “see how they are repaying us.” He is telling God that the place where they are at this moment is given by God himself. Jehoshaphat is claiming what God has given them, they are asking for a rightful possession, something that belongs to him and his people. Friends how do we present our case? We sometimes are least bothered about what God intends for us. We get so preoccupied with our own plans and desires that we try to convince God for what we need. Jehoshaphat claims that what God has already given them which is now at stake. I don’t mean that we should not ask new things from God, but we need to be aware lest we become stubborn and try to impose something on God. Jehoshaphat presents his case before God with complete humility and dependence on God. This leads to my next point-
3) Expressing an attitude of conscious dependence on God and trusting him completely (v. 12)- This verse has been a great encouragement for me in my life. Here Jehoshaphat forgets everything and puts his conscious dependence on God and trusts him completely. In this situation he is supposed to make some plans to face enemies. But what kind of plan is this? No program, no committee action. No flying banners, no bright and shiny war machinery, no brilliant war plans, no blaring of trumpets or mustering of patriotic armies. Just a simple confession, “We are in this over our heads - we don’t know what to do - so we will just keep our eyes on the Lord.” They decided to stand still, admit their helplessness, and put all their eggs in one basket. They would not move anywhere but closer to their Lord - look no other place for help but to Him.
Verse 12c conveys an expression of utter dependence of the people of Judah on God, saying “but our eyes are upon you.” What does it mean? This expression is found in many places in the Scripture where God’s people fix their eyes on God. Gen 22:13, for example, says “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” When I first read this verse I got little confused. The verse says that Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked behind himself a ram! How could he look behind while lifting up his eyes? But when I asked God to help me understand this and looked at the broader aspect of the whole event here, I understood that Abraham needed something to be sacrificed and God had asked him not to sacrifice his only son. In this perplex situation he asks God with lifting up his eyes to provide him a sacrifice. In responding to Abraham’s prayer God makes him to look behind where he finds the answer of his prayer, a provision which has been made even before Abraham reached on the mountain.
Do you see any similarity between the experiences of Jehoshaphat and Abraham? I do. Both are in a perplex situation, both need the help of God and both look up to God for help. Do you remember any situation in your life where you could place yourself in place of Jehoshaphat or Abraham? What was your response? Friends mostly we understand God as our last resort, we try everything what we can do and at last when we fail we go to God. But God was the first resort for Jehoshaphat and Abraham; they confessed their weaknesses and fragility to God and showed their complete dependence on God.
Response of God
This was the response of Jehoshaphat and his people to the situation in which they found themselves in. Many a time we focus more on our response and forget how God would respond to a particular situation. In this particular situation let us see how God responded to the prayer of Jehoshaphat and his people.
Now, in vv 14-17 we find the Spirit of the Lord coming upon Jahaziel. Of all the credentials for Jahaziel, the biggest is that he is a descendant of Asaph who wrote 11 of the Psalms, Psalms 73 to Psalm 83, but there is no indication that Jahaziel is a known prophet. So suddenly someone who is a priest, who is descended from someone important stands up to give a word to the assembly. It’s a very unusual event. The first response is found in the prophecy of Jahaziel-
1) God makes their case his own (vv. 14-16)- Now God not only says that they will have victory, he tells them not to be afraid, to be bold about this and go in to battle, because the battle does not belong to them. Since Jehoshaphat has not relied on his own strength but depended completely on the strength of the Lord, the Lord makes Jehoshaphat’s case his own and says that the battle belongs to God himself not Jehoshaphat. Friends when we put our burden on God he takes complete control of the situation. Jesus said in Mat. 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Now what does it mean that God will fight for us. If I would be in Jehoshaphat’s place I would have said to God, OK God you go ahead and fight, meanwhile I and my people will go and take some rest, we are tired of standing in the temple here for hours. But it was not the case there. In v. 16 God says “tomorrow march down against them.” Now why does God want them to be in the battle field if they don’t have to fight? This leads to the next point of God’s response-
2) God makes them to witness God’s doing (v. 17, 24)- Verse 17 says “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” It says “see the deliverance the LORD will give you.” God wants us to be witness of the mighty acts he does in and through us. God wants us to witness how he delivers us from all small and big problems that we go through and come out victoriously. So what did they witness? Verse 24 says, “When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.” Friends, though we don’t have to fight but we have to be in the battle ground to be his witnesses.
3) God turns the situation up-side-down (v. 25)- Now what does God do to the situation? When they saw their enemies dead they went down to plunder them. Verse 25 says, “so Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.” In v. 11 they were at risk of losing their land and everything they had, but here in v 25 they are blessed with all that belonged to their enemies. Friends when we put our complete trust in Him he changes our situations up-side-down. As in the Book of Esther God changed the mourning of Jews into dancing and same in the case of Jehoshaphat and his people here, God does it for us too.
After they plunder everything they rejoice over what God had done for them. In vv 27-30 we find that they come to Temple with all the musical instruments and worship God. Friends note here that even after getting the victory they come back to the place of prayer. Sometimes after getting the solution of our prayers we go back and forget the mighty work of God. These verses remind us that we need to be in the presence of God and worship him.
Friends, difficult situations are the part and parcel of our lives, we face them every now and then; let us think for a while how do we respond to those situation? Do we get depressed and question God? Or like Jehoshaphat stand in a complete dependence on God that God may respond to our trust in him.
Benediction- “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
