The Difference between Zeros and Heroes
2 Chronicles 20:1-30
This bible text is a little bit long, so I am not going to print it out here. But, it contains some important stuff, so please get your Bible out and look it up.
First, note that Jehoshaphat was a good and a godly king. Therefore, everything always went along without a hitch in his kingdom. Oh, no? What’s that you say? An enemy was approaching? A big, bad, mean army! Oops . . . We learn from this that being God’s man or woman and even being about God’s business doesn’t insulate us from problems, even big problems.
The text says that Jehoshaphat was “alarmed.” We all tend to be alarmed sometimes by things that come unexpectedly upon us. And that is OK if we deal with our fear like the king did – he immediately went to prayer to ask God about it. Listen, just because trouble comes on the scene doesn’t mean that God has left the stage. Now take a look at God’s answer to Jehoshaphat’s prayer (vv. 14-17). Wow! What a response from God! To the worried, God says: “Don’t be afraid or discouraged.” To those who fear the battle He says: “Just take your position and then stand firm and watch; I’ll fight the battle for you!” Now I don’t know about you, but I can stand and watch! And then God adds that greatest of all promises: “The LORD will be with you.” So, even if we do have to face some fearsome thing, we don’t have to face it alone; the Almighty is with us.
Now Jehoshaphat was a smart guy . . . he did as the Lord has instructed him. That is probably a good lesson too! But there is one other thing he did; when it came time for the battle to begin, he sent out his special ops squad – the praise team. They began to worship and to sing praises to God. This may be the most important lesson in the passage . . . even in the enemy’s face we can praise and worship God. You see, no enemy is big enough or bad enough to snatch the joy of the Lord from your heart. In the story, the end result was a defeated enemy, great blessing for God’s people, a testimony to God’s greatness, and peace for Jehoshaphat’s kingdom and for all the kingdoms around him.
Our God turns zeros into heroes and troubles into testimonies. Our part is to trust His promises, stand firm and praise the Lord!
Pastor Keith Andrews