“And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD…O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” 2 Chronicles 20:2-12
How do you handle fear? Know what Jehoshaphat the King of Judah did when he learned a mass number of people was coming against him and the people he ruled? He feared! Wouldn’t you? But what did he do with that fear? Do you handle fear the way he did? He went IMMEDIATELY to the Lord with his fear and with the information he had been given. Why? To get instructions for the battle! What did the people of Judah do? They asked God for help! Did they pridefully convince themselves they knew how to handle the battle? No! Did they arrogantly tell God they could handle the battle on their own? No! Did they self-righteously try to handle their troubles by themselves in their own strength? No! How did the King and his people handle their fear and the battle they faced? They humbly sought the Lord and waited for His instructions!
I don’t know about you, but so often when I fear and face a battle, I think I need to pretend to be strong and courageous and go scrambling around to figure out in my own wisdom and my own strength how to handle the battle all the while trying to rid myself of the fear or to stuff it down inside me. Then I remember I need to take it to the Lord. Even when I take it to God right from the start, I still tend to somewhere along the way think I need to figure everything out by myself as though the battle belongs solely to me and I am responsible for securing any victory I might have if I have any at all. The King and the people won that battle mightily. Why? Because they went IMMEDIATELY to the Lord, waited on the Lord for His instructions, and obeyed Him. Their hearts, attention, focus, and EYES were on God! Who brought victory? God did! In God they had put their trust! A lesson for us all, don’t you think?