It is as if the king senses some burden in the air amongst the people and he says, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
NOISE.
I have found that noise doesn’t necessary have to make a sound to be noise.
Even though the people are recorded as saying nothing, the king sensed the wrong “noise” in the people by the way they acted. They weren’t acting as people who had victory but people of burdened. The deafening quiet was obviously something that the king needed to address.
I remember coming back from a retreat with some students once. They had a great time enjoying the speakers and worship time but the next time we met the concerns of the world and life had crept in and taken over. The concerns of life bullied, pushed, persuaded and selfishly boosted their way into these students' life until they overtook what God could had used to build them up in the Lord. The excitement and joy had been let out of of them like a balloon deflated of it's air. The Lord showed me, it was just another way the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. You get something good from Lord and the enemy wants to quickly steal, kill and destroy it so you won't glorify the LORD and all his goodness. I personally was heart broken but the Lord showed me this was no different then what Moses experienced with the people in the wilderness. Where gratefulness of being saved from Egypt turned to ungratefulness and complaining not long after.
There is a song sung by Enya, called "May it be". One of the lyrics is: "May it be when darkness falls, your heart will be true."
When darkness falls does our heart remain true knowing God's love for us or do we allow it to falter to the pressures of life? May God give us the strength in our heart, mind and soul to not allows us to falter.
The people in 2 Chronicles 20:13 had just been told the day before by the Spirit of the LORD “Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” They were to march out and stand still and watch the LORD’S victory. For the Lord was with them!
BUT the way they were acting it seemed that they had received a very different message. They had forgotten what God had told them or at least become double-minded.
Had they started off in faith but now as they ventured through the wilderness were they just following the pack? -So to speak. When we venture through the wilderness of life do we start off in faith and then just begin to follow the pack -uncertain of things in life because we have forgotten about God's love for us?
Can you imagine not having an email program without a junk mail folder?
If we aren’t carefully our minds can become like an email program without a junk mail sorter. Where we allow junk mail to pile up in our “inbox” and when our hearts come to read the mail they are unable do so quickly and efficiently because of all the junk mail taking up space in our inbox.
Had they allowed junk mail to pile up in their “inbox”? Are we selective in what we fill our minds up with?
Imagine being a college student for a minute. God has put a message for you on a bulletin board in your dorm room - for you to see, remember and meditate on throughout your day. This bulletin board is important! It reminds you of all the things that need to be remembered but somehow the bulletin board slips outside of your room and into the hallway where it becomes a "community" bulletin board. Students, pizza joints, bands, pubs, campus clubs and so on quickly post their messages on your bulletin board until the whole thing is covered and plastered with pieces of paper.
Your bulletin board that God has put his message on can hardly be seen in the midst of confusion and the puzzlement of papers.
Life brings lots of NOISE and it can overwhelm us like those pieces of paper on that bulletin board, quickly covering up and hiding the message God wants us to remember.
"God Loves you and the battle is not yours, but God's."
How often do we come home and our minds are filled with the noises of the day?
Lots of junk mail happening internally, lots of things that leave a person with unrest, lots of things that can bring psychological strains not just affecting the mind but the rest of the body as well.
Then add external noise to the internal noise and they might as well be kryptonite to spiritual superman. If we aren’t able to get away from all that kryptonite thinking then we will suffer BUT when we find some quiet time to be with the Lord- we can find rest and focus for our souls. The junk mail is thrown into the trash where it belongs and the bulletin board of our life is cleaned off and put back into our room where it belongs with only God’s postings.
These soldiers I am sure had a lot of noise in the minds and hearts. They were thinking about their families, their possessions, their homes, their animals, their crops, the immense army etc.... IT was probably so noticeable on their facial expressions and in their body language that the king could not help but observed it. The noise of their silent poor condition compelled the king to address it.
King Jehoshaphat had to reposted God’s message to the people. He had cleaned off their bulletin board- so to speak – but he knew had he had to do something more to keep the people’s bulletin board uncluttered. So he, the king, spoke to the leaders.
After consulting with them he appointed some singers to walk ahead of the army, singing “Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!” 2 Chronicles 20:21
THE POWER OF A SONG.
Ever wake up singing a song? I don't know if it God singing a song over us as we are about to wake or the Holy Spirit encouraging us with a song that he lovingly places in our head to remind us of God's love. Perhaps it is both.
"The LORD you God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
“But as for me, I will sing about your power. I will shout with joy each morning because of your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress. O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.” Psalm 59:16-17
Songs of praise…
Songs of worship…
Songs of admiration…
Songs of focus….
Whatever you may call them, sung in all sincerity, truth, and Spirit has this supernatural ability to diminish and stop the internal noises that aim or tend to tear down and undermine ones faith.
There is power in a song to God, why do you think there are so many of them in the bible?
Song is like prayer. When we HONOR God with not just our lips but with our heart -spiritual strength and nourishment flows into our lives. We can be in despair, anxious, fearful, hurt, dry, overwhelmed, discouraged, dejected, frustrated... we can be looking for direction, understanding, encouragement, strength, peace, patience, softening of your heart... and when we humbly turn to God and speak to the LORD, we honor HIM and HE blesses us. He gives us what we need as our Heavenly Father. (Like that tree in the background of the video, prayer to God encourages foliage and fruit and replaces our bareness.)
Ever felt his Spirit come over you and surround you in your time of need restoring and comforting you?
“God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted….” Matthew 5:3-4
I remember being heart broken as I sought the Lord one night. I had turned on some Christian music and began to sing along with it and as I did something unexpectedly happened - I saw a vision of Jesus. He was standing in a tree and when I saw his smile shining upon me all the brokenness was instantly healed and I began to laugh with joy.
These words have come to mind:
“May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24-26
A WORD THAT CHANGES A MOMENT.
I don’t think it was by chance the king had the singers sing, “Give thanks to the LORD; his faithful love endures forever!” 2 Chronicles 20:21
Think about when you are listening to praise and worship music… and a song comes on, that directly touches your heart and speaks into your situation. The praise and worship leader has picked a song that touches your heart. You know somehow and some way that this song didn’t get played by chance.
Think about ministers on the airwaves who speak a word that touches your heart and speaks to your situation. You know somehow and some way this word didn’t come on by chance.
Think about when you are at church and the pastor gives a sermon on what you just needed to hear.
God knew exactly where you were going to be at that moment and knew exactly what you needed to hear to be encouraged in his love at that moment.
God is love and he's about showing and giving his love. He wants his chosen creation (All human beings) to come and know him... in Word , Spirit and Truth
But the reality of God's love is not possible unless we give God our lives.... where not religion tells us the importance of Jesus in our lives but the Holy Spirit. The word of God will turn from words of black and white to words of greater and deeper meaning. They will finally make sense. We will have a changed heart toward things we formally had a biased or prejudice about particularly the bible, christian music, church, prayer, and so on. A "new" insight and understanding will emerge in us. One thing that will need to remain constant- our faith from start to finish will need to guided, watered, feed and encouraged in God's love in times of peace and times of battle.
The WORD then says:
“At the moment they began to sing and praise, the LORD caused the armies of the Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.” 2 Chronicles 20:22
The mighty army made up of three armies turned on each other and “when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, there were dead bodies lying on the ground for as far as they could see. Not at single one of the enemy had escaped.” 2 Chronicles 20:24
Sometimes I am a little dense and it takes me a day or two- but ever notice the things God does for us to help the day go by smoothly? We ask and put our trust in him to make provision for us but unless we are really paying attention the reality of that provision doesn't become obvious until we have time to think about our day or week. Not saying we don’t hit any hiccups but they are minor things compared to what could have had happened. And the hiccups are usually fixed in a matter of minutes.
We find that God removes certain people or situations from our path and yet makes sure others are in our path so they can either be helpful to us or we can be a blessing to them in those situations. God supplies all our needs as we trust in Him.
The things that seemed ominous never overtake us but are laid to waste.
The passage ends with:
“King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables- more then they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today. Then they returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, full of joy that the LORD had given them victory over their enemies. They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres and trumpets and proceeded to the Temple of the LORD. When the surrounding kingdoms heard that the LORD himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.” 2 Chronicles 20:25-30
Battles have been said to be the valleys of our life…
“Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and staff protect and comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
BUT in and amongst those dark valleys we find something more wonderful then we would had ever expected. We discover, as we trust God, how much God truly loves and cares for us. We see HIS love truly is faithful and we see HIS love truly endures forever! We see and experience this more then if we only lived on the mountaintops of life.
I have spoken about this before but growing up in Washington state fruit is grown in the valleys not the hilltops. Same with us, fruit is grown in us in the valleys of life.
When we see the valley as it really is, we get to grow in what means to walk in victory by the mercy, grace, love and peace of God. We get to understand the battles in this life are not ours but God’s.
We find in the midst of those valleys- blessings that are too many to count, too many to remember, too many to notice and too many to collect.
We will find in the midst of those valleys, our faith strengthened. We find greater peace that seldom do others ever find because of the battles in life - which lead to valleys of blessing where we are sure to find a greater trust in God. And in this trust we understand he gives us the victory amongst insurmountable odds.
THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS, BUT GOD’S
No comments:
Post a Comment