Not long ago, I heard a Bible lesson about what you are supposed to do when facing battles in your life, and I realized that this was definitely applicable to sharing the gospel. Spreading the good news is certainly not easy because we are waring against Satan by doing so. What we do when we are initially faced with these problems, as well as things happening in our life, is vitally important. My mom always says you can go three weeks without food, three days without water, three minutes without air, but three seconds of panic will kill you. So, sometimes we need to realize that panicking on what the answer to your battles should be and expecting yourself to come up with an answer is not the way to go. Instead, we need to take a step back and let God have control.
We have a passage of scripture that we will be reading today, because this Bible story is a step-by-step instruction manual for knowing what to do when we are faced with battles. I highly suggest you read all of the passage 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 CSB, but for the sake of time and space, I am only going to pull out certain verses, but please read the section on your own, later or with this article.
This Bible story starts with an army going to war against Judah (verses 1-2), but the king of Judah’s reactions to the problems they were facing is amazing. “Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord. Then he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah,” 2 Chronicles 20:3 CSB. When the king of Judah heard this, although he was afraid of being faced by this battle, instead of panicking or going off on his own way, he stopped and prayed about it. His immediate response was to go to the Lord, and ours should be the same.
When we are scared and we feel like we don’t know what to do, our first response should be to pray to God and ask Him for His help. “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6 CSB.
“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 CSB. Our first response should be to pray to God. A good example of a prayer in times of destress is 2 Chronicles 6-12.
After we pray to God, we need to have faith to do what He commands us to do. “” Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”” Matthew 17:20 CSB.
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12 CSB.
And in 2 Chronicles 20:16 CSB, Jehoshaphat fallowed through with what God wanted them to do, even though the enemy armies seemed so much bigger. “Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel.” Even though sharing the gospel is hard, we need to have faith in God to do what He commands us to do and share the good news.
But, even when it feels like we are alone when we share the gospel, God is always by our side every single step of the way. We must remember the Lord is Always with us. In Ephesians 6:10-20, it shows us we need to put on the armor of God which as Christians is our defense against the devil, and know that He will always be with us. “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.” Joshua 1:5 CSB. We don’t need to fear because God is always with us.
“Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff- they comfort me.” Psalms 23:4 CSB.
And, again, Jehoshaphat is a good example of having faith that God is always with us. “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 to face them, for the Lord is with you.’” 2 Chronicles 20:17 CSB.
And finally, we need to remember that God is still worthy of praise and worship even through our battles. “Then Jehoshaphat knelt low with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to worship Him. Then the Levites from the sones of the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel shouting loudly.” 2 Chronicles 20:18-19 CSB. This applies greatly to the trials we face in our life. Even when the going gets rough, we need to remember that even when we thought was a battle, the Lord meant it as a blessing. At the end of our passage between 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, we see that God blessed Judah through their battles.
So, it is so important that we remember to SEEK, BELIEVE, and PRAISE. When we are faced with trials, we need to go to God in prayer, we need to have faith to do what He tells us, we need to always know that He is there, and we need to give God all the glory and worship because He always wants the best for us, and what we thought was a battle, the Lord meant it as a blessing. We can share the gospel even when we are afraid because, “I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 CSB. So, let’s face those battles with God by our side.
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