"The Battle Is Not Yours But God's" Part 2

Let me make a disclaimer....if you are in the Valdosta area and are attending the "Traditions" conference tomorrow night you will want to stop reading now. These blogs (part 1 and part2) are taken from portions of my talk for tomorrow night, so don't ruin the surprise. Go ahead, log off.

Ok, for the rest of you, I want to pick up where we left off yesterday. We learned that Jehoshaphat was steadfast in his faith. So here we are, Jehoshaphat has just prayed before this assembly and even though he was king, in humility before everyone he admitted that he did not know what to do, but He was going to keep his eyes on God.

I don't know about you guys, but I was a little disturbed at the lack of urgency King Jehoshaphat was experiencing here. Don't get me wrong, I am all for praying, but let's pray and move, move, move. But here we find...

2. Jehoshaphat was content to wait.

He had called his people together to pray and to fast. He prayed expressing to God that he did not know what to do and he waited.

This is an excerpt from a previous blog, but it applies to this point...

Sometimes the greatest lessons are not found in the answer, but in the wait that comes before. Is seems that many times in my life God has place me in the “wait.” We often see those times of “wait” as a punishment, a cruel joke or wasted time, but in reality the “wait” can be the greatest lesson of them all. Have you ever been there in that time of wait? Are you there now? I can think back on many times of waiting. I waited for God to bring me a mate, all the while He was preparing me and Matt for His great plan. I am thankful for those days of wait that brought us both to His feet and allowed us to first love Him intimately. I waited and waited to become pregnant, learning more lessons during that wait than I could have thought possible only to be blessed with 4 precious boys. Sometime layering the "waits" God was teaching me multiple lessons as over the years I have awaited test results from Cat-scans, MRI's Blood tests, Biopsies, not only on me but sometimes my husband and once my small child. Thinking that God would receive the greatest glory when the answers came and then realizing that the greatest lessons came in the time He called me to wait because sometimes the answers did not seem so great. We miss so many teachable moments by worrying away the days of waiting, when God desires for us to embrace the wait and sit at His feet. He is always teaching us. I believe that sometimes He allows the wait to remain until we become pliable and learn the lesson He had planned out for us.What is your wait today? Has God called you to a new discipline in your life? Are you waiting on a mate? Do you long to hold a child in your arms? Are you awaiting test results from your doctor? Maybe it is a financial need that you are trusting God to take care of? Whatever the weakness, allow Him to be your strength. Whatever the "wait," ask Him to teach you, mold you , shape you and allow you to remain until His will has been accomplished in your life. Sometimes the "wait" can be the most precious time you ever spend.

Jehoshaphat was content to wait and oh how quickly God answered. Jahziel stood up and this is what he said,

“Jehoshaphat, I have a word from the Lord. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not your, but God’s.” (Paraphase: So tomorrow, get up and march down there to where they are. Now they are going to be climbing up in pursuit of you, but) “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. Do not be afraid or discouraged, go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.”

I love the picture in this next verse, "Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground and all the other people fell in worship before the Lord." Can't you see the relief? He just fell on his face in worship and praise to God. And as they did this God led them into a time of praise. As a matter of fact, the next morning when they went out to meet their enemy, they were clinging to the promise that God had made to them, but Jehoshaphat had resolved that he did not want this to become about him so he kept them focused. He appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

I don't know much about wars and battles, but if I was in charge, I probably would not send the chorus out first. I would send my football team out. Send those big, strong, burly guys out and get this thing over with, but Jehoshaphat knew what he was doing.

Join me tomorrow to find out more.

"Alarms in the night"

About a month ago we were all sound asleep, doors locked, alarm set and we were awakened from our precious slumber by this loud "WHWHWHWHWH" Alarm. Matt and I both jumped out of our deep sleep, jumped back into our skin and ran to check the alarm. Matt checked the alarm while I checked the children. Jacob was the only one to wake up saying "Mommy, what's that sound? That loud mommy. It ok?" I reassured him and he went back to sleep. Matt said that the alarm reported "line cut." Oh my word, they cut the line and they are on their way in the house. That was my first thought. I immediately picked up my cell phone and called Brinks and found out that line cut simply means the phone line has had an intermittent disturbance. No big deal I thought and we returned to our slumber. No big deal quickly turned into a BIG deal as over the next month these intermittent disturbances were happening every 30 minutes ALL DAY long. I could handle the day time beeping, but one of the alarm panels is in our bedroom and every time the phone line cuts out the panel beeps until the phone line returns. So every 30 minutes ALL NIGHT long we hear beeping. Can you feel my pain and understand how annoying this could be for A WHOLE MONTH! I communicated with our phone company during this month. They made 6 visits to our home replacing every wire and connector only to find it was a neighborhood problem. I must say I remained very patient and very nice during this whole process. Patience and a good attitude paid off because they resolved the problem and we received a 99 cent coupon for a pay per view movie. I confess to you that I was more aggravated than thankful when I received a whopping 99 cent movie for a month of sleepless nights. There were times when I wanted to request the number of the CEO of this phone company and call him every time the alarm sounded during the night. I knew he would get serious about resolving my problem if he were awakened as often as I was. Once I took those thoughts captive and made them obedient to Christ and realized that I did not want a restraining order brought against me, I decided to be patient and wait. I did have to question my motives for my patience when I received their generous coupon. I asked myself would I have done anything differently had I known the outcome. The conclusion, which I am ashamed to admit took longer to derive than I hoped, was NO I would not have done anything differently. God has called us to be patient. He has called us to control our speech. He has called us to be a testimony of His love and grace to this world. The individuals on the other end of my phone calls did not do anything wrong. The very helpful technicians that came to my home 6 times were doing all they knew to do. Who would have benefited from an attitude outburst from me? I would have still had sleepless nights from the guilt of knowing I was not honoring the Lord with my attitude. Not to mention, I was able to share the love of Christ with 2 different technicians and I pray that the testimony of my life and the love my family was able to share with them will encourage them to a relationship with Christ. I did get aggravated and I did get tired of hearing the alarms in the night, but I took it to my Savior and He used the last month to develop patience in our hearts and to make us sound sleepers as we learned to sleep through the beeps. I pray that my life would be characterized as one who is slow to become angry, one of patience and one whose speech honors God. The next time your alarm beeps in the night, your neighbor's dog barks at the moon, your neighbor decide that 3 am is the perfect time to have a dance party or you find yourself waiting 30 minutes in the check out line remember this verse... James 1: 19-20 "My dear brothers, take note of this; Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."