When You Feel Powerless...

When you feel powerless …..

2 Chronicles 20:12 "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.”

When a highly educated boy suddenly starts to change right in front of your eyes, he stops going to work, wakes up late with a gloomy face, talks incoherently, isolates himself and also throws violent tantrums when he is questioned – how do you handle such problems? The world would advise you to take him to a psychiatrist, yes, that is also done with no results, then? I know someone who went through this nightmare, how do you handle such ‘weird’ things that happen in your life? Let us look at today’s lesson for answers, join with me…..

FASTING: Jehoshaphat, king of Judah faced a similar situation, when suddenly he heard “"A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea..” The reasons for such an invasion was also partly because of his disobedience which we see in the former chapters; however, Jehoshaphat did something awesome, he did not run away from God because of his errors , ‘he was afraid but he turned his attention to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” Glory to Jesus! Psalm 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. 24 When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

Lesson for us today is that, when we realize our faults, we should run to God like Jehoshaphat and proclaim a ‘fasting prayer’.

UNITY: The king leads by example, verse 4 says ‘all the cities of Judah gathered to seek the LORD.’ Verse 13 says: Judah was standing before the LORD, with their infants, their wives and their children’ as Jehoshaphat prayed. Adversity should not bring diversity but unity then the enemy is already defeated. Unity is our fortitude! Ephesians 4:13 says: we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Psalm 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!”

Ephesians 4:2-6 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON GOD: Jehoshaphat did not have ‘plan B’ if plan A’ failed’, he totally depended on God, his words ” we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” takes the cake, I guess it touched the heart of God. Many of us go to God with options, if God does not answer me then I will do this, but that is half -hearted prayer, God is not pleased with that, He is looking for total surrender.

When we are in key positions and shoulder huge responsibilities, then there are umpteen reasons to worry: – deadlines, financial pressures, market instability and various other pressures make our stomachs churn, don’t they? I must say ‘yes’ and write this sermon with integrity, because some of the pressures that we have are insane. We faced one such recently regarding ‘approvals’ from high officials, which they point blank told us cant be done. They stubbornly refused to even see us, this was actually threatening our ministry. Would you like to know what we did? Along with my husband, I fasted and prayed and received immense peace that transcends human understanding. After few weeks, we by then gathered proof materials that clearly mentioned the role of the officers, now after fasting and prayer when we walked into the cabin with necessary papers, we were asked to sit down and on the same day, we got the signature. Say Amen. Victory doesn’t come without battles!

GUIDANCE: You don’t have to navigate and go hunting for false prophets to find out a solution, the ‘INSTRUCTIONS’ will reach you when you seek God the right way. Anybody listening? The Bible says: Isaiah 58:11 “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Not ‘google search’ but Word from God, it did reach Jehoshaphat through prophet Jahaziel. God’s instructions would not be hazy and but it would be with pristine clarity. Prophet said, ‘don’t fear, battle is not yours but it belongs to God, go tomorrow, they will come by the ascent of Ziz,’ Period. The leader Jehoshaphat followed it to a T (perfectly) and won victory. They found dead bodies the next day and gathered gold and valuables in plenty for 3 full days. Psalm 25:9-10

“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”