You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out and face them, for Yahweh is with you.'”     2 Chronicles 20:17 HCSB

I am so glad I finally realized I don’t have to fight my enemies. It had become exhausting. I now know that God fights for me. All I have to do is honor and praise Him.

Our scripture passage is one of my favorite battles in the Bible. You see, King Jehoshaphat loved the Lord, but he had gotten a little sidetracked when he hung out with his friend King Ahab. King Ahab did not honor God and was a bad influence on King Jehoshaphat. God was not pleased with the two of them hanging out together. God sent His prophet to tell Jehoshaphat all about it. Jehoshaphat was truly sorry for doing something that displeased God. He repented and set about doing the right thing and making things right between Him and God. Then he gets word that not one but two vast armies are coming against his kingdom.

Now what he does next is important for us. He didn’t grab spears and talk tough and say, “Well, we will just have to fight ’til the death.” He didn’t run out there and get himself and his army killed and his kingdom plundered. He didn’t wring his hands and say, “What shall I do?” No, he turned to the Lord. We are told in verse 3 that he was afraid and he resolved to seek the LORD. This is where most of us mess up. We don’t want to show weakness or fear so we try to handle it on our own. This was two vast armies. Jehoshaphat wasn’t stupid. He knew, that unless God intervened, these armies would annihilate him and his people. He claimed a fast for all of Judah and him and his kingdom gathered to seek the LORD. Verse 4 tells us they came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him. He not only turned to God, but he brought his kingdom together to humble themselves before God and pray. Just imagine how powerful a nation we would be if we did that today.

Our scripture passage for today is what God replied, through His prophet, after their prayer. God basically told them not to worry about a thing, He had this all under control. All they had to do was suit up for battle, position themselves for battle, stand still, and watch God work this all out. And that’s just what they did. They did as God instructed and God caused these two vast armies to turn on each other and destroy each other.

The next morning, God sent the praise and worship team out first. They were praising and singing Hymns of praise to God. The armed forces went out behind them. No worries, right? This is God’s battle and they were doing it God’s way. The end result was, God caused these two vast armies to destroy each other. Verse 24 tells us that when Judah reached the wilderness they could not find the army, only corpses on the ground, no one had escaped. All they had to do was gather the plunder. It took them three days to carry all the valuables away. So much is to be learned from this.

First of all, don’t freak out when the enemy comes against you, no matter how big they are. Just think about David and Goliath. Secondly, the first thing we should do is pray. Seek the Lord with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. Then, we should obey and do what God instructs us to do. Often times God lets go because we refuse to. We refuse to allow Him to fight our battles. We think we have to jump in there and handle it. We want the glory when the glory should be going to God. He will never play tug of war with you. Either He will handle it or He will give it to you to deal with. Trust me, you want Him to handle it. Suit up for battle. Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us all about the armor and weapons that God provides. Then stand still. If you are busy fighting, you won’t be able to see God working. Let Him do His job. Your job is to stand still and give Him glory and honor and praise.

If you are going through a battle that seems impossible to win, it probably is for you. Give it over to God and see His victory. Give Him the glory, the honor and the praise. He will fight for you, you just need to be still (Exodus 14:14).

Have a great weekend.