Faith is Not Easy!

This morning in my devotionals I was reading in 2 Chronicles 20. It is a fascinating story about when King Jehoshaphat trusted the LORD when the Moabites and Ammonites were coming to make war on Judah.  He called the nation of Judah to fast and pray.  He told the Lord, “we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” (2Chronicles 20:12)

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know what to do?  No possible solution was in sight, you could see no way out. 

Your husband came home and told you that he is not happy any more and is moving out. 

Your son is hanging with the wrong group of kids and is walking towards trouble if something happens.

You lost your job six months ago and still can’t find one.  The mortgage is behind and so are all the other bills.

What do you do?

In Matthew 6:25 Jesus tells us, “Do not worry about your life”.  Obviously this tendency to worry about what will happen is not a new thing.  It began with the first sin in the garden and still continues today.  When uncertainty of our future creeps in we get nervous.  We can’t see how this is going to work out.  Jehoshaphat struggled with this also.  Their lives were at stake here.  The lives of the people of Judah, a whole nation were at risk.  What was he to do?  He knew his God, so he went to him for help.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs to into it and is safe.

Proverbs 18:10

But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:33,34

It is so much easier to worry about our life than to not worry.  It takes effort to not worry.  We have to think about it.  We have to choose to not worry.  When Jehoshaphat first got word that the armies were coming he was alarmed.  I’m sure for a little while(it doesn’t say how long) he panicked & thought, “What are we going to do?”  But then he “resolved to inquire of the LORD.”  He made a choice, he thought about it, he decided that he would seek the Lord for wisdom and guidance.  He prayed and fasted and he still didn’t know what to do, but he trusted that his God did know what to do. Don’t think for a minute that this was easy for him to do this.  Faith is not easy, but the rewards are more than you can stand.
Jehoshaphat had a very happy ending to this story.  HIs armies didn’t even have to fight.  Instead they worshiped God in a loud voice in song.

“Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”

Please note that this was their song BEFORE God had delivered them.  That is another blog post all together.

The short ending to this story is the enemies basically destroyed each other.  Judah never had to raise a sword in defense.  But they were able to take away a bounty of plunder.  In fact there was so much equipment, clothing & other articles that it took them 3 days to collect it all.

They did not worry, they praised their God.  They sought Him first and trusted that He would provide a way out.  We have much to learn from these people.  We live in very scary time right now and our future doesn’t always look good.  But know that if you are a follower of Christ, your future is glorious!