God Will Show Up And God Will Show Out

We have been looking at an exciting story found in 2 Chronicles 20, where King Jehoshaphat was facing a problem where he didn't know what to do. Three of his enemies had aligned their armies for the sole purpose of eradicating Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. We saw that Jehoshaphat began to seek the Lord (verse 3) and God told him that the battle was not his, but God's (verses 15; 17). During our first week of this series, we discovered that every event of our lives is orchestrated by God to cause us to seek Him

This week we have been looking at the challenge God gave Jehoshaphat to go face-to-face with his enemies. We have discovered that God wants us to meet our problems face-to-face because He wants to give us victory in the presence of our problems. We have also learned that the time to confront our problems is now.

As we conclude this week's posts, we are going to discover the overarching principle of this entire story: If we want God to fight our battles, we must position ourselves in the proper place.  "You will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory." (verse 17). What was the position that God told Jehoshaphat to take? The same that you and I should take when we are faced with problems where we don't know what to do.

“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!” (verse 21). Then the Bible says in verse 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.” Did you catch it? At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the enemy self-destructed. Last week we talked about how praise and worship are an important part of seeking God. They're also an important part of confronting your problems, and they're crucial to experiencing victory.

The difference in confronting your problems and complaining about your problems is praise and worship! People who complain about their problems act as if their problems are the biggest in the world. People who confront their problems with faith and praise know that God is bigger than any problem they will ever face. 

In this story, the army of Judah was preceded by praise, and, as a result, they never had to enter the fight. God fought the battle for them. If you and I will precede our battles with praise, we won't have to fight our battles either. And as my friend Sandy, who is battling stage 4 cancer often says, "God will show up and God will show out!"