The Face Off
2 Chronicles 20: 15 – 23
Let’s continue Jehoshaphat’s story. In response to an enemy threat, Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah began seeking God, begging Him to intervene on their behalf. As they came together for a time of fasting and prayer, a prophet delivered a message. Listen to verses 15 – 17, “15 He said, ‘Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!’”.
Did you catch that? God said, “This is where your enemy will be. Go to where they are, prepare for battle, and I’ll do the rest. I’ll fight for you.”.
This is the key to victory in the Christian life. We don’t fight our battles on our own. God fights our battles for us.
Does this mean our position is completely passive, that we don’t do anything while God does everything? Not even close. Before God does all that He can do, you and I need to do all that we can do.
I want to share with you this morning 3 principles that will help us prepare for victory.
The 1st thing we must do is to…
#1: CONFRONT OUR PROBLEMS FACE TO FACE:
When Jehoshaphat asked for help, God could have said, “Don’t worry about the armies that have gathered against you in the wilderness. Just stay where you are and do nothing. It’s taken care of.”.
He could have said that, but He didn’t, because God never does it that way. Instead, He sent Jehoshaphat and his army into the wilderness to face the enemy.
Trusting God to solve our problems doesn’t mean that we ignore the problems. Neither do we run and hide. We must confront our problems face to face.
God wants to give us victory, but not from a distance. He wants to give you victory in the presence of your enemies. He wants you and me to get a good look at what we’re up against so that we can understand the fullness of His power.
I had a youth minister in my first church as Preaching Minister named Alan whose life was a financial mess. Every paycheck was spent the day he got it—to turn the phone back on, to get the utilities reconnected, to cover overdrafts, or to stop the finance company from coming after his car.
The stress never ended; his bad habits only made it worse.
One day he told me he couldn’t take it anymore. He decided to get serious about getting out of debt.
“Since you brought it up, just how deeply in debt are you?”, I asked.
“I honestly don’t know.”, he said. “Can you ballpark it for me?”, I asked.
He said, “If I collected all of my bills and put them together, they might fit inside a ballpark. That’s as close as I can get.”.
Months before, Alan had recommitted his life to Christ and in so doing committed to becoming a more responsible steward of the resources that God had entrusted him with. He knew that becoming more responsible in his finances would honor and glorify God and would improve his witness to others. He was making a sincere effort to walk in obedience, but this enemy kept trying to destroy him. Alan thought that if he avoided the problem long enough, eventually God would fix his finances for him. He kept wishing God would pull a rabbit out of a hat. He checked the mailbox everyday for an envelope full of cash with a return address of “Heaven” on the envelope. But the rabbit stayed in the hat, and Heaven kept its money. The things he wished for never happened, and the problem didn’t go away. It just got bigger.
Eventually, Alan came into my office, sat down, broke down, and opened up. We spent some time in prayer, and then I put him in contact with a tremendous counselor friend of mine that I knew could really help Alan deal with this problem. He added up his bills and put together a budget. In doing so, he confronted the enemy face to face.
In a matter of weeks, Alan started to experience victory. God came through for him, providing a little extra income here, helping him reduce an expense there.
This continued month after month until Alan’s financial nightmare became a thing of the past. God provided the means of victory, but only after Alan made the effort to confront the enemy head on.
I want you to think about your problems. How should you go about confronting them? You don’t have to fight in your own strength — God promises to fight for you — but you do need to show up and meet them head on. You may not have what it takes to solve your health problems or marital problems or money problems on your own, but you can stand up to them. Take your position on the battlefield, just as God told Jehoshaphat to do, so that the glory of God can be revealed in your life.
It’s been said, “80% of success is simply showing up.”. The same can be said about living in victory. The biggest part of conquering a problem is having the courage to confront the problem.
When you dare to meet your enemy face to face, you unleash the power of God in your life. Remember that courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s being afraid and doing it anyway.
Are you in a “Here Comes Trouble” situation? Don’t run and hide. Meet it head on.
The 2nd principle in preparing for victory is…
#2: TAKE ACTION RIGHT AWAY:
Notice again what God said to Jehoshaphat. Beginning in verse 16, God says, 16 “Tomorrow march out against them.” 17 “Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”.
So, what did they do? Look at verse 20, “20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa.”.
Do you see it? They didn’t wait. They didn’t vacillate. They moved as soon as it was possible to move.
H. Jackson Brown said, “Where there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it any smaller.”. We know the truth of that statement, but it doesn’t stop us from putting things off, just in case that mountain decides to go away on its own. Have you ever noticed that mountains never move in response to procrastination? They only move in response to faith.
The time to take action is now. When Steve Mariucci was coach of the San Francisco 49ers, he once said, “I never wear a watch, because I always know it’s now — and now is when you should do it.”.
That reminds me of something Anne Frank said. She said, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”.
What I’m saying to you is this, “How wonderful it is that you need not wait a single moment to begin facing your problems. How wonderful it is that you need not wait a single moment before taking the steps necessary to make your life what it can be. How wonderful it is that you need not wait a single moment to experience God’s great, mighty, limitless power.”.
As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “I tell you that the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”.
Today you can begin taking steps to move your problems out of the way. Even if you’re just taking little-bitty baby steps, it’s still a step. It’s still progress.
As you take these steps, I can promise you two things…
? God Will Notice, and
? He’ll Show Up In Your Life.
When analyzing this massive army before you, you may be tempted to think, “I can’t do everything to immediately fix this problem, so I’ll do nothing at all.”. Eventually that mind set leads to futility… “What good will it do if I eat salad instead of pizza today? Can one salad make me healthy? What good will it do if I take out my wife tonight for a romantic dinner? Can one night out solve our marital problems? What good will it do if I put ten dollars in savings? Can I retire on ten bucks?”.
And then we think, “I’ll confront these problems when I have a better chance at solving them.”.
If Jehoshaphat and his army had believed this lie, they never would’ve gone into the wilderness of Tekoa, they never would’ve faced their enemies, and they never would have experienced victory.
God told the army to move into position right away. He said, “I will be with you, I will protect you, I will fight for you, I will give you victory ... but you must take action right away, so that I can begin to bless you.”.
God says the exact same thing to you and me. We just have to be willing to confront our problems. More importantly, we have to be willing to do it “right now”.
The 3rd and final principle to help us prepare for victory is…
#3: CHART YOUR COURSE WITH PRAISE:
Notice how God instructs Jehoshaphat on how to approach the battlefield. Look at verse 16, “16 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising Him for His holy splendor. This is what they sang: "Give thanks to the Lord; His faithful love endures forever!”.
Now take a look at what happens next. Verse 22 says, “22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.”.
We’ve already seen that praise is essential to seeking the face God. Here we see that praise is also essential to seeing the hand of God.
We have a tendency to talk about our problems way too much. You hear it everywhere… “Oh, the economy is awful. Oh, gas prices are terrible. Oh, my job is stressful. Oh, we’ve got the wrong people serving as the President and Vice President. Oh, my marriage is falling apart. Oh, I’ve got aches and pains. Oh, the Yankees are on a losing streak.”. And it goes on and on and on.
Earlier I said that you can’t ignore your problems…that you have to face them head-on. But don’t mistake complaining for confronting. One focuses on the “power of the problem”, the other focuses on the “power of God”.
Do you know what God wants from you and me? Have you ever stopped to consider just what it is that God truly wants from us? What God truly wants from you and from me is a heart full of faith and a mouth full of praise.
Look at verse 20, “20 ‘Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.’”.
Complainers talk about problems that are great and mighty.
Conquerors talk about a God who is great and mighty. As you approach your enemy, stand firm in faith and speak words of praise.
I want you to know and completely understand that it’s completely up to you to say, “God, I’m moving in this direction as an act of faith. I will praise you now because you are great and mighty, your Word is true, and your love endures forever. You give strength to your people. By the power of your Spirit, we have victory, and all the honor and praise go to you.”. God will not force Himself upon you in the midst of your troubles and make you profess your faith and put your trust completely in Him. You have to do that yourself.
Believe me when I say that I know that it's not easy to say these things when trouble is attacking from every side. It does seem that it would be a whole lot easier to just keep saying, “Things are so bad. Things are getting worse. There’s nothing I can do.”.
Honestly answer this question of yourself, “Do you have the courage to stand up and speak the word of faith?”.
Judah’s course was charted by praise. As a result, they never had to engage in combat. God fought the battle for them. When you and I chart our course with praise, He’ll fight for us, too.
In The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson tells a childhood story about a bully who came after him. David was the new kid in town and on top of that he was a preacher’s kid. Wilkerson didn’t want to fight, but he didn’t want to run, either. As he prayed about it, he remembered a verse from Sunday School. The verse that came to his mind was Zechariah 4:6, which says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”.
Wilkerson repeated this promise again and again. When the day of confrontation came, the bully began his intimidation tactics. As he talked trash and threatened violence and pain, David was scared right down to his core. But he never let go of the promise.
As the bully circled David, David circled the bully, silently praying, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”.
Suddenly, his fear melted away, replaced by confidence and joy. As the bully talked tough, Wilkerson looked at him and smiled.
The bully didn’t know what to do. All the other kids in town were afraid of him. Why in the world was this kid smiling? Why wasn’t he afraid, too?
The bully finally took a swing, barely landing a very weak and tentative blow. Then he turned around and ran away.
The next day it was all over school…the preacher’s kid beat up the bully. The truth was that Wilkerson never threw a punch. He won this battle not by might nor by power, but by God’s Spirit.
Wilkerson’s story, I believe, parallels Jehoshaphat’s story. It can be your story, too. Armies may line up against you. Bullies may come after you. Problems may surround you. But you can walk in victory.
How? By faith.
? By faith you confront your problems face to face.
? By faith you take action now.
? By faith you mark each step with a word of praise.
And do you know what you’ll discover? You’ll discover that there’s tremendous power in praise. You’ll discover that there’s true victory in faith. And you’ll discover that the battle doesn’t belong to you. The battle belongs to the Lord. He fights for you. Victory is yours. Not by your own might, not by your own power, but by the Spirit of the living God.
