First Steps Can Seem Strange

King Jehoshaphat is in one those places that we all sometimes find ourselves in...he is faced with a situation that he didn't know what to do. Three enemy armies had aligned themselves for the sole purpose of crushing Jehoshaphat and his people. The numbers, man-power, and weaponry greatly favored the alliance. And Jehoshaphat was terrified. But rather than running from his problems, he began to "seek the Lord" (verse 3). 

This week, we are exploring what God told Jehoshaphat, because in His instructions to the King, we find directions for those times in our lives when we don't know what to do. Yesterday, we explored how God told Jehoshaphat to confront his problem rather than run from them. The second command God gave Jehoshaphat was to confront his problem right away. In verses 16, 17,  God said, “Tomorrow, march out against them...Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”  And in response to God's command, we are told in verse 20: “Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa.” 


Too many people, when faced with a problem, want to put off a confrontation as long as possible. But God told Jehoshaphat to go out into the wilderness the first thing the next morning. H. Jackson Brown, the author of Life's Little Instruction Book, said, “Where there is a hill to climb, don't think that waiting will make it any smaller.” Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, in their book Hard Facts, quote former San Francisco 49's head coach, Steve Mariucci, as saying: “I never wear a watch, because I always know it's now, and now is when you should do it.” 


Here's the deal. You do not have to wait another minute before facing your problems. You do not have to wait another minute before taking the steps to make your life all that God intends it to be. You do not have to wait another minute before you experience God's power in your life. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:2: “Indeed, the 'right time' is now. Today is the day of salvation.” 


It begins with a first step that sometimes may seem laughable. Cross the Red Sea on dry land because Moses raises his staff? Ridiculous! Cross the Jordan River on dry land because the priests take the first step into the water? Laughable! Slay an armed and armored giant with a slingshot and five smooth stones? Are you kidding me! Cure a deadly skin disease by dipping in the Jordan River seven times? Lunacy. But when we are willing to take the first step, no matter how strange, God will notice, and He will show up.

God told the Jehoshaphat's 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 need to take action right away, so that I can begin to bless you.”  God is telling us that we need to be willing to face up to our problems, and we need to be willing to do it now.

Tomorrow we will look at the overarching principle of this week's message...if we want God to fight our battles, we must position ourselves in the right place.