God's Battle

I was reading 2 Chronicles 20 yesterday, and the Lord used it to teach me about relying on Him for victory.

Three different armies came up against Judah, and Jehoshaphat the king was afraid. But instead of starting to bark orders at the commanders of his army or doing his best to come against this threat, he turned to the Lord. Part of his prayer reads, “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” (verse 12). He declares his helplessness, but he also declares his faith by saying his eyes are on the Lord, his only hope. What do you think the Lord's response was? “Well, you should have been better prepared.” Or “You go ahead and fight and I'll be here to help.” Both are so wrong. He says, “Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's... You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf...” (verses 15 and 17). So, the next morning they go out praising the Lord for His promised victory, and “when Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness they looked toward the multitude [their adversaries], and behold they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped” (verse 24). Judah's enemies had come against one another and not one was left. God had won the battle.

How cool is that? How often do I think I have to try and do my best even though I am so limited in my abilities? How often do I fight the battle with my limited resources just to get defeated? What did King Jehoshaphat do? He prayed, confessing his powerlessness and asking for the Lord's victory. Then he trusted. He didn't say, “Okay, God, I want your help, but I'm going to go out their and do my best. So bless my efforts.” Our Father wants to fight our battles, in fact He says they're not our battles but His. But we must surrender control to Him. And we must trust Him. Then we simply watch Him bring victory.  Praise the Lord!