2 Chronicles 20:2-12-
Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you--for your name is in this house--and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.' And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy-- behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."
A few reasons why this is so freaking awesome...
1. Jehoshaphat is just a great name. I had to go to a website to figure out how to say it correctly...in my mind it seemed really hard because "Biblical Names Pronunciation"said that you pronounce his name like this-->-dzhee-HAHSH-uh-fat. Well once the dude from the website actually said the name it wasn't as cool as I originally anticipated but at first glance it's pretty interesting.
2.Now I'm going to be serious..."Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD". The VERY FIRST thing he did when he got scared was
SEEK THE LORD! It seems like it's instinct for him, it was his initial reaction after getting scared. It doesn't say that he got scared and hid or asked his boys what he should do, he immediately went to seek the Lord! I don't do this, when I get scared I want to run to things or people that are comfortable for me. God is a jealous God (Hosea 2:19, Ezekiel 39:25), he knows that we are better off with him. I know that I'm better off with him but my actions often show that I believe the opposite.
3. Jehoshaphat was a king of the Kingdom of Judah. He could have very easily acted like he wasn't afraid and told his people the first idea that popped into his head and they would have followed and not questioned a thing. The really awesome thing is that he did immediately give an order. Go back and read it again, seriously. Right after he seeks the Lord he "proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah", so not only did he seek the Lord but people from all over Judah did as well (Phil.2:10-11).
So recap-Jehoshaphat, who was a king, was real with his people (he let them know he was afraid and didn't have all the answers) and his first instinct was to seek God and have his people do the same. Again, I'm pretty sure I've never done all of those things at the same time. I have such a hard time being real with people that I'm close to and this guy, a King was totally fine with allowing anyone and everyone to see his weaknesses.
4. This is my last point and also my favorite thing about this passage. So Jehoshaphat prays this raw and bold plea to God and ends the prayer with this sentence:
"We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." This is exactly how I feel right now! It is terrifying for me to realize and admit that so I can't even imagine how a king would feel saying that. It was amazing to see the faith and trust that Jehoshaphat and his people had.
I want to be bold and raw when I talk to God, I want to be real with people, I want to boast in my weaknesses but above all I want to seek the Lord first. For the next few weeks the theme for my life is going to be "God, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you."
Because God, I have no clue what I'm doing and I desperately need you to help me.
