FINDING HOPE WHEN THINGS SEEM HOPELESS
2 CHRONICLES 20:1-30
A. OVERWHELMED BY HOPELESS SITUATIONS.
2 Chron 20:1-3a 1 Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar.” 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid...
The King is in a Crisis that seems hopeless.
You know you are in a crisis
(1) You are afraid.
Vs 3 He is afraid. Fear is a great tool of the enemy. Fear causes you to make mistakes. Fear causes you to falter in your faith. Fear can hinder our relationship with God. Cause us to sin. And Satan controls people thru fear to bring us down/destroy us.
(2) You feel powerless.
Vs 12 “We are powerless.” He is the King. He has his army. He has some allies. Yet this problem hit him so hard and unexpectedly that he feels overwhelmed. He knows that none of these things can match the problems he’s facing.
What does it mean to be powerless?
* I don’t have the ability to fix the problem, to change it, to reverse it, or to avoid it. And I don’t know anyone else that can help me.
* Jehoshaphat says I’m in a Crisis. I have a huge problem bearing down on me (2 armies). It’s running my emotions, I am afraid. I feel powerless because I don’t have the power. Even if I had the power, I couldn’t fix it, because I don’t know what to do!
B. THE SEARCH FOR HOPE.
Where do you go when you’ve exhausted everything you know to do?
Exactly where you should have gone to in the beginning. The Lord!!
1. Seek the Lord.
(Vs 3) He turned his attention to seek the Lord
You get in the Word. You begin to line yourself up with God.
Is 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
Newsflash: God is near in your problems. He likely allowed these problems to hit you hard because you were slipping away from Him. He allowed you to be knocked around so you’d come back to Him! He is telling you today in the middle of your problems to Call on Him/He will answer you. Refuse Him and you’ll go thru it alone!
2. Fasting and Prayer.
(Vs 3) He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
We seek the Lord by spending time with Him in prayer. And, when things get bad enough, there is a secret weapon called fasting. Fasting is like putting your prayers on steroids. \
* In the Wilderness, Jesus prayed and fasted for 40 days.
* When the disciples failed in their attempts at driving out a demon, they went to Jesus and He revealed to them a spiritual weapon.
Mt 17:21 this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
Fasting is God’s way of taking our focus off of our own pleasures and desires and placing them on God. God is inviting us, thru fasting, to a closer and stronger experience with Him.
3. Confession.
2 Chron 20:12 we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.
Confession involves admitting to God our sins, our failures, and our total dependence upon Him.
* God, I have messed up. I have sinned. Please forgive and fix me!
* God, I am weak. I am not strong enough to bear this load. Please help me.
Paul realized this. In 2 Cor 12, Paul had this to say....
2 Cor 12:9-10 9 He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul was saying “If you think you’re strong enough that you don’t need God, then God will let you dangle over the fire. But, if you confess your weakness and ask Him to come into your situation, then God will empower you and make you stronger!”
4. Praise and Petitions.
* There are all kinds of prayers. There’s prayers you pray when everything is going well. In those times people often struggle to find things to pray about, because, you know, you ain't spiritual if your prayers don't last at least 5 minutes. right? We pray the Miss America prayer, "God give us world peace". We pray the 5 yr old child prayer, “God bless Ma,Pa,Grandma, and John Boy and, and, and, Sue Ellen, Bobby, and JR.”
* But when your world is crashing down, your prayers become more specific. You don’t have to struggle thinking of things to pray about.
2 Chron 20:5-12 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, 6 and he said, “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You. 7 Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, 9 ‘Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.’ 10 Now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), 11 see how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
What is the King saying in this prayer?
God, you are great and mighty! God, you promised to protect us!
Our enemies are overwhelming us! We are powerless against them!
We don’t know what to do! Please help us! Our eyes are upon You!
** Notice, in a crisis, how specific you get with your prayers.
“God, please kill that bear that is chasing me right now!”
C. HOPE IS RESTORED.
1. Standing in Faith
While the people were gathered and praying. Jahaziel stood up and spoke the Word that God had given to him.
2 Chron 20:15 He said, “Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”
* That is important to keep in mind! When you give your problems over to the Lord, it is the Lord’s battle. I’m sure He can handle it!
But, God does command us to be involved. Notice.....
2 Chron 20:17 You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’
We must stand firm in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No fear.
Only trusting Him.
2. God Delivers
They went out and stationed themselves in the path of the enemy. They began praising the Lord for the victory He is bringing them.
2 Chron 20:22-23 22 When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. 23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had
finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
God gave them a victory without their having to even lift a sword.
2 Chron 20:24-25 24 When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped. 25 When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much.
Notice: they came out of their problems better off than they were before they even knew they had a problem. Every crisis we go thru is a test and we are rewarded when we pass those tests.
3. Responding with Praise
2 Chron 20:26-30 26 Then on the fourth day they assembled in the valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore they have named that place “The Valley of Beracah” until today. 27 Every man of Judah and Jerusalem returned with Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres and trumpets to the house of the Lord. 29 And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God gave him rest on all sides.
After God had delivered them, they hauled their treasures back to Jerusalem and blessed the Name of the Lord in songs and praise.
* And God gave the people peace and rest.
Closing- There are 3 types of people here today.
(1) Overwhelmed by problems. Things seem hopeless. God is telling you this morning that you need to get focused on Him. You need to hit your knees and seek Him with all your heart. You need to pray and confess your sins to Him and repent. Then, when you’re on praying ground, give Him your problems. Lay them at His feet and allow Him to come into your situation.
(2) You’re in the Midst of the Battle. God is telling you to stand in faith. Trust Him with all your heart. It may look like its all over, but God is telling you this morning that It ain’t over til He says it’s over!
* Keep on seeking...praying..Trusting...and following His counsel.
(3) God Has Delivered You. Well, that’s an awesome place to be!
You were overwhelmed, but were delivered by Almighty God!
How ought we respond when God has delivered us?
HIT YOUR KNEES TO THE GROUND WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND GIVE HIM THE PRAISE HE DESERVES!
