STEALING VICTORY
When challenged by a situation over which he had no control, how did Jehoshaphat snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? He accomplished it by faith, and the prayer he prayed (2Chronicles 20) highlights his understanding of God, that facilitated that faith.
5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said: “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
He knew that the loving God who cared for him was also the all-powerful God who controlled the heavens and the earth. If God be for you who can who can be against you?
7 O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
Recalling God’s work and intervention on your behalf in the past is one of the greatest encouragements a Christian can have when faced with challenges.
8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
The value of internalizing God’s promises is what Jehoshaphat demonstrates here. If God has spoken a promise into your life, you can rest assured that he will come true on his word. His arm is not too short to save and claiming his promises is the treasure of a Christian.
10 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.12 O our God, will you not judge them?
An appeal to God’s justice is seen here. God is just in all his ways. His character never changes. In the face of changing circumstances, it is the unchanging perfect character of God that we learn to rely on.
12—-For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
Recognizing one’s helplessness and fixing our eyes on Jesus is what challenges should drive us to do. And that is where relief comes, that is when faith can be applied and that is when victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat.
