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In the history of Judah there was a king named Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was generally a good king. He went to his various towns and urged the people to follow the Lord, and he urged the priests to judge righteously.

In 2 Chronicles 20 we read that a “vast army” of warriors from three different nations were marching to toward Judah:

¹After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.

²Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). ³Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. ⁴The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
2 Chronicles 20:1-4

When Jehoshaphat learned that the enemy was coming to “make war,” Scripture records his two reactions.

First, it says he was “alarmed.” This was not some bully down the block who had come to steal his lunch money. He might be able to deal with the bully. No, this was a vast army from three nations coming from the other side of the sea and they were almost upon Judah. You don’t travel that far unless you plan to kick some Jehoshaphat butt!

So “alarm” was Jehoshaphat’s first, and very natural reaction. There is nothing wrong with this natural reaction. Jehoshaphat did not sin in having this natural reaction. When I get phone calls that have “catastrophe” written all over them, my first reaction is alarm. I’ll bet the same is true with you.

You undoubtedly have seasons and situations in your life when enemies come together to make war with you. It might be those times when you feel like you are fighting the battle on too many fronts. When things are going wrong in too many areas of your life or you are suddenly too busy in too many areas of your life. You are in the same position as Jehoshaphat. And you probably feel like you can’t get it wrong in any of those areas or your life will come crashing down. You and perhaps those around you will be defeated.

Or maybe your “vast army” is a single pressing issue that is advancing like a vast army about to overtake you. Maybe it’s a looming bill that needs to be paid or an upcoming event.

Whatever “vast army” is advancing upon you, it’s important that you have the same second reaction as Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat’s second reaction was to “resolve” to “inquire of the Lord.” This might be described as Jehoshaphat’s supernatural reaction, because turning to the Lord happens only when we look beyond what we can see in the natural.

Notice that Scripture records Jehoshaphat’s two responses in a single sentence – He was alarmed and he resolved to inquire of the Lord. A mark of our maturity in the Lord is how quickly we move from our natural response to a supernatural response. Stepping away from our natural response requires a decision and a resolve on our part. It’s so much easier to wallow in our fear and anxiety. It’s so much easier to dwell on the enemy or enemies coming against us. But we need to respond supernaturally to the situation those enemies pose immediately rather than continue in the natural. If we want to live supernatural lives, we have to make supernatural choices.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the Jehoshaphat’s supernatural response in more detail, but for today, I invite you to join with me in resolving to inquire of the Lord – immediately when we feel alarmed. Let’s invoke a supernatural response quickly so that God can impact our situation quickly.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 at 6:15 am and is filed under Christian Living, Spiritual Maturity, training for spiritual growth, Trials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.