From His Heart - Week of September 21

What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do

"O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You."  2 Chronicles 20:12

Have you ever been in a difficult situation where you just didn’t know what to do?  Perhaps it is a health crisis … or a marital problem … or a rebellious teenager … or a financial collapse.  Can you relate?    

Jehoshaphat can surely relate to feeling like that.  He was King in Judah when the armies of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Meunites came together as one to wage war and destroy Jerusalem.  

Jehoshaphat and his armies were grossly outnumbered.  From a human perspective, their goose was cooked.  There was no way they could survive this attack.  There was no ingenious military strategy that they could concoct to somehow produce a victory.  There was no rabbit they could pull out of their hat.  They were indeed “powerless before this great multitude” coming against them.      

BUT GOD

Jehoshaphat had no idea what to do in light of the dire circumstances he was facing.  But He did do some things that are really important when you don’t know what to do.  

1.  You cry out to the Lord.  That is what Jehoshaphat did.  The Bible clearly states that he was afraid.  But he did not let that fear immobilize him.  He used the fear as fuel to seek the Lord.  He called the whole nation to pray … with fasting.  Why is fasting so important?  Because it is like adding a turbo charger to your prayers.  It shows God that you are really serious.  Remember this: God does business with those who mean business, and fasting shows Him that you mean business.          

2.  You can lay your situation before Him.  God is all-knowing.  When we pray, we never share something with God He doesn’t already know.  But He wants us to share our problems with Him, openly and honestly.  It does us good to unload our burdens and cast them on Him.  And when you do that, leave them with Him.  It makes no sense to cast your great burden on the Lord in prayer, and then take it back up again the moment you say, “Amen.”  Cast it on Him … and leave it with Him.  

3.  You can put your eyes on Him.  The situation Jehoshaphat was facing was far too great for him, but it wasn’t too great for God.  And the king chose to take his eyes off the problem and put them on the Lord.  Listen, the troubles you are facing today may seem HUGE, but they are nothing more than a pimple on a flea compared to God.  If you want to strengthen your faith in the time of crisis, then get your eyes off your problems and onto the Prince of Peace, the One who can calm the fiercest storm simply by the power of His word.  

4.  You can choose to praise Him.  Do you know how Jehoshaphat and the people won the victory over all the “ites” coming against them?  They won it through praise.  The Lord fought for them as they sang His praises.  Have you learned that there is great power in praise?  The Lord sent a jailhouse rock to a dark and terrible prison in Philippi because Paul and Silas prayed AND sang hymns of praise.  No matter the situation, praise is always the right response.    

WHATEVER YOU ARE FACING

I don’t know what dire circumstances are breathing down your neck today, but God does.  He knows, He cares, and He has all power to make the difference.  

When you don’t know what to do, do what Jehoshaphat did … and watch God work a miracle.

To read additional devotionals click here.

Jeff Schreve is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. He and his wife Debbie have been married for over 20 years and are blessed with three wonderful girls. Jeff began From His Heart Ministries, a radio and television ministry, in January of 2005. This ministry is completely listener/viewer supported. It continues only through the faithful and generous gifts of people like you. Pastor Jeff takes no salary from this ministry. All gifts go to further the broadcast.

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