Jump Start # 2436

2 Chronicles 20:12 “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.”

Our verse today is part of a prayer. It’s how a prayer ended. It comes from the heart of a king. Things were dark. Trouble was coming. He needed God’s help.

The background to this is simple. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah. He was one of the good ones. A coalition of foreign powers, including Moab and Ammon had joined to attack Judah. Judah would not be able to stand against such powerful and numerous enemies. Their only hope was in God. The king lifts up his heart and pleads to God for help. He is honest and he is humble. The prayer was heard and Judah was saved. The enemy turned on themselves and Judah was spared. God, once again, saved His people.

I have to believe that there is much more than a historical reason for this being in our Bibles. It’s faith building. We often stand in the shadows of this king. It’s not Moab that we fear, but cancer. It’s not Ammon, but it’s the darkness of the future. And, like this king, we access the situation and come up with two conclusions.

First, we are powerless. The problem seems larger than us. It’s something we’ve never had to face before. The treatments, the costs, the sickness, the pain—the changing of our lives. The inconveniences. The appointments. The forms that must be filled out. We wonder, why can’t things just be like they once were. Why do I have to go through all of this. I just want this to go away and leave me alone.

Second, the king admitted, “we do not know what to do?” Neither do we. So many decisions. Which one is the right one. Go for treatment or go for surgery? What if the surgery doesn’t work? Or, there are the decisions with aging parents. Keep them in their home and provide in house care or find an assisted living facility? Which is better. What if the money runs out? What if our parents don’t want to leave their home? “We do not know what to do?”

I love the honesty of this king. Much too often we try to fake our way through situations. We pretend that we know what to do, when we really don’t. We put on a brave face and charge ahead. But since we really do not know what we are doing, is that the best course of action? What do you say to a prodigal? What do you say to a member who is addicted to porn? What do you say to someone who has been arrested? We do not know what to do.

The way some act, you’d think that there is never a situation, nor ever a time when they are caught off guard. They always know what to do. They have an answer for everything and everyone. And, probably reading this passage, they’d have a solution for Judah’s king. All Jehoshaphat could do was pray to God. He knew that God would know what to do. He knew he could trust God. He knew God was good.

Our verse ends, as this prayer ends, “Our eyes are on You.” Our hope is in You. I’d like to hear more prayers end that way. We wonder sometimes if we even need God. It seems that we have everything figured out and we know what to do. A little of “Our eyes are on You,” reminds us of our place and His position. It helps us to realize that He knows tomorrow, we don’t. It helps us to understand that He is moving and working in places that we cannot see, nor can we understand.

Immediately, Jehoshaphat’s prayer is answered. Assemble before your enemy. Go, but you will not fight. The battle is the Lord’s. Do not be afraid. And, it’s those words that you and I need to hold close to our hearts. Do not be afraid. Sure the enemy is many. Sure the problem is serious and grave. But don’t be afraid. Our eyes are upon the Lord.

This ought to be the prayer of parents. We are not sure what to do and the problems before us are serious. However, our eyes are upon You. This ought to be the prayer of the shepherds of a congregation. There are problems before us. We are not sure what to do. Our eyes are upon You. This ought to be how all of us pray. Problems around us. We are not sure what to do. However, our eyes are upon the Lord.

God can see what we cannot. God can do what we cannot. When hope seems lost, lift up your eyes. Our eyes are upon You…

Roger

Jump Start # 1306

2 Chronicles 20:12 “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.”

  Our verse today is how a prayer ends. It was the prayer of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Jehoshaphat, followed Asa, his father on the throne. He was another of the good kings of Judah. The situation was a massive invasion by a three nation collation. Armies from Moab, Ammon and the  Meunites invaded Judah. It was war. The good king of Judah called a national fast, assembled the people, and prayed. His prayer is impressive, recalling the mighty works of God and seeking help from the Almighty. Our verse today is how the prayer ends.

There are three great statements Jehoshaphat makes in this plea to God.

First, he admitted the reality of their condition. We are powerless before this great multitude. Now the page before lists thousands of valiant warriors that served the king. He didn’t rely upon those numbers. He was serious about the situation. Before a person will seek help, any help, but especially help from God, they must be honest, humble and realistic about the situation. This is where many fail. Our pride keeps us from admitting that we are weak. Men especially have trouble with this. We do not want to call for others to help. We do not need others to pray for us. We do not want advice from others. We don’t want help in our marriages, congregations or personal lives. We don’t want to admit that we are weak. We deny that there is a problem. This is the classic line of a problem drinker. He will tell you that he is under control and can quit any time. He boasts, I just don’t feel like quitting now. The reality is that he can’t. He is a slave to the bottle. He has a problem, but he won’t admit it. Just as the alcoholic struggles to admit his problem, congregations can do the same. They won’t fess up and admit that there is a leadership problem, or that they are weak. So instead of turning to the Lord and seeking help, onward they sail, not knowing where they are going. Jehoshaphat knew the situation. He knew it was above his pay scale. He knew that he needed God .

Second, in an even more honest confession, the king admits, “nor do we know what to do.” That’s a scary thought coming from the commander and the leader of the nation. I don’t know what to do. American presidents would never admit that. There is always a plan, a stagey meeting, a think tank approach to turning the ship around. I don’t know what to do. I believe there are times parents feel that way, especially with teenagers. Some of the messes kids get involved in can be very complicated. The solutions out of those messes are hard to see. It’s so easy to go to the land of wrong. The journey home is hard. A church would be shocked to have leaders pray what Jehoshaphat did. There would probably be a call to remove such leaders and to put in some people that knew what they were doing.

There was one thing Jehoshaphat knew. Seek the Lord. Although the king didn’t have the answer about the current crisis, he knew the Lord did. Do we fight? Do we surrender? Do we hide? God will know. God will help us.

Thirdly, Our eyes are on you. That’s how the prayer ends. We look to you, O Lord, to be our answer, our guide and our savior out of this crisis. Similar to what is found in Hebrews, “fixing our eyes upon the Lord.” That’s the answer. That’s always the answer. For today’s people it means praying, putting the crisis in God’s hand, and finding answers in His word. Take it to the Lord in prayer is more than a nice hymn we sing, it sums up our spirit, our attitude and our course of action. We will do what God tells us. God will help us. When Peter was walking on the water, the text tells us that he saw the wind and the waves and started to sink. His eyes were not on the Lord. The Peter syndrome is fairly common. We look at the problem and not the solution, the Lord. We see what’s wrong, but we fail to see what’s right. The wind and the waves causes us to complain, be frightened and to doubt. Eyes upon the Lord, causes us to march onward. I wonder what would have happened had Peter never took his eyes off the Lord. Would the two of them walked across that sea together? I wonder what would happen to me if I kept my eyes upon the Lord? Would I find myself more at peace and less bothered by things? Would I be more spiritual? Would I have a deeper relationship with the Lord?

I expect that there will be times in all of our lives in which we do not know what to do. There will be times when the troubles seem greater than we are. Yet our help and our answer remains the same as for this king of Judah, long ago, “Our eyes are on You.” We don’t know, but God does. We don’t know the outcome, but God does. We are in for a real battle, yet our eyes are on the Lord.

Maybe this is why Paul told the Corinthians that we walk by faith and not by sight. Walking by sight means seeing all the trouble, problems and turmoil facing you. Walking by faith means our eyes are on the Lord. In that context Paul says, “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” In essence, Paul is saying, ‘we see the invisible.’ We see what others cannot see. We see the eternal. Our eyes are on the Lord.

Maybe you are having some health issues. You may be awaiting test results and you are a bit anxious. Is a surgery in the future? Do you have cancer? Have the doctors done all that they can? Our eyes are on the Lord.

Maybe there are problems at home. There may be a prodigal that hasn’t come to his senses yet. Maybe the marriage isn’t hitting on all cylinders. Maybe there are aging parents and a decision about assisted living must be made. Our eyes are on the Lord.

Maybe there are problems in the home congregation. People are leaving. Things are stale. The leadership is stuck on auto-pilot. Preachers move in and out on a regular basis. Tension and complaints are on the rise. Our eyes are on the Lord.

That is always the answer. Our eyes are on the Lord. Be honest, like this great king of Judah. Be humble, like this great king of Judah. Turn to the Lord, as this great king of Judah.

Our eyes are on the Lord. What are you seeing? Problems or the Lord? Where you are looking has a lot to do with how you will get through your battles. Long ago, Israel saw a nine foot giant named Goliath that stood before them and taunted them and scared them. Young David saw the Lord. The giant was nothing to him. We all have our giants in our lives that we face. See the giant or see the Lord?

Our eyes are on the Lord.

Roger