One of the most difficult things to
learn about faith is that it is NOT easy. Being willing to believe, trust and
act according to a Being that can’t be sensed takes a tremendous amount of
courage and resolve – mainly because we may be called to do what has never been
done (or thought of) before. That’s why
the great heroes of the faith (Hebrews 11) were so blessed. They were willing to allow God to use them to
do unheard-of things.
One excellent example of difficult
faith is found in 2 Chronicles 20. King
Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah were facing a dire crisis. An enemy army was on their doorstep before
they could mount a legitimate defense against them. With their backs to the wall and completely
out of viable options, the king did something extraordinary – he went to God in
prayer. It may not seem to have been the
correct war strategy from a human standpoint: after all the lives of thousands
upon thousands were in his hands right then.
Yet God brought them success because this action showed true faith:
The king’s prayer
claimed YHWH as their God (6, 7, 12);
He expressed their
inability to succeed without His help (12);
He admitted that they
had no idea what to do (12);
And Israel submitted to
accepting whatever outcome God decided upon (12).
The real faith issue came in
responding to God’s answer (14-17).
First of all His reply came through a prophet. God said (I’m paraphrasing), “This isn’t your
fight; you won’t have to do anything; let me take care of it.” Could this message really be true? But since there was no time to make sure
whether or not this guy was telling the truth or just making it up, they had to
follow through on what he said.
Also, their faith had to believe
that when they marched out to where the enemy was encamped God would indeed do
all of the fighting. “I don’t have to do
any fighting? God will fight this
battle?” Their courage was evident in
that they did march out. The difficulty
of their faith showed in the fact that they were singing and worshiping all the
way to the front. And they really didn’t
have to fight. As it turned out, all
they had to do was to watch God work, mop up after the enemy finished killing
themselves, and proclaim God’s glory when they returned home.
If God has ever proved anything to
us humans all throughout history it has to be that He will indeed fight for
us. When we claim Him as our own, His
Spirit keeps us in His care. When we tap into His power to persevere, His
Spirit provides the strength we need to get through any challenge. When we
follow His guidelines toward the goal and keep our eyes fixed on Christ, then
there is no way we can fail (Rom. 8:31-39).
Doug
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