God We Do Not Know What To Do, But Are Eyes Are On You

Indiucky I just got a signal that one of my sons is struggling with one of life's challenges. At my lowest point I was looking for answers, some encouraging words. So I did my homework, put this lesson together and delivered it in January 2008. At the end I admitted that the lesson was for me. I thought that if I was going though these feelings, there must be others out there too. When I asked if the lesson was helpful, about 60 heads nodded yes. Apparently even the most optimistic are not immune to the struggles of life.

God Exhibits Strength Through The Weakness Of People

2 Chronicles 20:1-12

1 It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites,[a] came to battle against Jehoshaphat. 2 Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, "A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria;[b] and they are in Hazazon Tamar" (which is En Gedi). 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the LORD; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 and said: "O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 'If disaster comes upon us-sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine-we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.' 10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir-whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them- 11 here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

I invite you to open your Bible to 2 Chronicles chapter 20. When can you best see the power of God? The power of God is clearly seen best against the background of human shortfall. The truth is that my /your inadequacies may actually prove to be our ultimate qualification in serving God. God many times takes us on a word journey through Scripture to show how, time and again, He, God, exhibited his strength through the weakness of people.

Jehoshaphat is prepared to acknowledge what is not common in leadership then or now. Namely, Jehoshaphat the King of Judah, acknowledges that he does not have a clue what to do and he feels totally powerless. In his mercy God chose to use the weakness in his servant Jehoshaphat to make him into a great leader.

It helps to have some historical context around the past of this nation that is the subject of our study today. So very quickly I am going to tell you an abbreviated story.

When Saul died David was the God anointed king. David ruled over Judah and in God' s judgment David did right in the sight of God with the exception of Uriah the Hittite.

Solomon, David's son was the next King of Judah, Solomon did right in the days of his youth and evil in old age. You can read this for yourself in 1 Kings 11:4

1 Kings 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Solomon actively promoted the worship of several idols, and the sins associated with them. As a result of Solomon's backsliding, God divided the kingdom.

Upon the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam assumed the throne. For King Rehoboam's first three years in office, he carefully obeyed the LORD. Later, though, Rehoboam introduced cults into his land. God's overall verdict of Rehoboam is evil:

2 Chronicles 12:14 And he [Rehoboam] did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.

King Abijam succeeded his father King Rehoboam, becoming the second king of Judah. His reign is characterized in scripture as a continuation of his father's evil reign. You will find this in 1 Kings 15:1-3

1 Kings 15:1-3 And he walked in all the sins of his father [Rehoboam], which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

King Asa was the third king of Judah, and the first one characterized in the Bible as a man of integrity. His 41-year reign was marked by revival in the worship of the LORD, and removal of paganism and its associated evils.

1 Kings 15:11-14 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

Now Jehoshaphat is the fourth King of Judah. He is the son of Asa.

Now some of our younger folks about this time are amused. Who in the world would name their kid Jehoshaphat? You might be thinking -- a kid with a name like that wouldn't last 5 minutes in my school. Back in the day people did not think the name Jehoshaphat was amusing; they understood that his name meant Jehovah Judges, or God Judges. So when his mother took him to town and introduced him she would say 'This is my son. We call him God Judges' . What a commanding name!

And our lesson picks up with the immediate historical context: King Jehoshaphat is facing his greatest crisis - indeed. The threat; Three enemy nations have joined, forming a vast army to exterminate the people and the kingdom that is on his watch. This enemy axis is on a mission to launch an invasion. Scouting reports revealed the enemy was already nearby, and Judah was far overpowered.

In alarm, Jehoshaphat organized a national day of prayer. The entire population assembled at Jerusalem, fasting and praying. The king himself prayed a beautiful prayer expressing God's might, his history and promise of aid to his people, and their present helplessness, ending his prayer with the words, in Verse 12.

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

Lord I may as well just acknowledge just the way things are. Here I am representative of your people and we are powerless and clueless.

This is a wonderful illustration of Paul's phraseology in 2 Corinthians 12 when he says "When I am weak then I am strong".

I hope this study is an encouragement to those of us who are aware of --- or those who need to be aware of their own inadequacy when it comes to living for and serving God.

Some of us may have come here today painfully aware of that the challenge before us is overwhelming and one that we sense ourselves recoiling from. If there is some work that some one is telling you can do and you know you can't - Take courage because you are not alone. Maybe you are faced with heavy blow from life, loss or sickness you also are not alone.

The background here in 2 chronicles 20 is pretty straight forward. You may read on your own starting in chapter 17 to get the preface of the event here.

The background in short - Under the rule of Jehoshaphat Judea had experienced a reformation. He was a wise leader had he put into place various changes. Jehoshaphat came to the throne in the wake of a time of war at the conclusion of his father King Asa's reign. For this reason, among his first actions were border fortifications, especially on the border with Israel.

From the beginning, he also instituted religious reform. He never once participated in the prominent Baal cult or the other idol-based religions that had snared Israel and Judah. He removed the shrines from the high places. There is a revival. He had rediscovered the law of God and taken the Law of God before the people and said this is God's word to us and we need to understand it and obey it. And you will see that emphases all the way through these chapters.

Jehoshaphat had gone on to appoint leaders in various places and he urged them to serve God faithfully, whole heartedly and courageously. Now Jehoshaphat had just given these instructions to serve God faithfully, whole heartedly and courageously. In short order he is going to walk to talk.

The crisis is there in the opening verses of chapter 20. The Ammonites and Moabites with some from Mount Sire had come to make war on Jehoshaphat. The writer says again and again that this is a vast army. The army is gigantic, notice verse 2, 12 and again in 15 and 24 - vast army.

The point is obvious that the writer wants us to understand that the response of Jehoshaphat of alarm in verse 3 is perfectly understandable response. After all the news comes the numbers that are attacking you cannot be quantified. They are united in their approach against you.

Despite the fact that Jehoshaphat had put back into place the reforming principles for the nation, despite the fact that Jehoshaphat has put into place infrastructure to guard the boarders of the land, despite the fact of Jehoshaphat's widely known leadership - none of this prevents him from responding as he does to the news that he receives. He was not immune to fear. Courage is not the opposite of fear. Some how Jehoshaphat has the character to act despite fear.

There are three significant points to this lesson subtitled weakness Admitted, Acknowledged and Answered.

First of all notice that weakness is admitted. The statement in verse 12 is pivotal "we have no power and we don't know what to do". We are powerless and clueless. Not exactly what you expect from someone in a leadership position is it? Not exactly what you would expect from a father is it? After all being a father is a leadership position.

Despite the contemporary preoccupation with human effectiveness --Jehoshaphat takes a very different approach. We don't know what to do God. Our eyes are upon you. And all the men of Judea, verse 13, their wives and their children stood there before the Lord.

I can presume a military observer from the other side says what is going on? Reply, they are just standing there. Another says why don't they do something. Reply, well they are they are; they are standing there. You mean that this is significant? Yes. They are standing still until they discover how and where they should move. They are standing still in the awareness of the fact that they are both powerless and clueless in light of the circumstances confronting them. They are standing still at the command of their leader who is humble enough to say I do not know what to do. But I invite you to stand with me as we seek God.

How would a CEO see this? They would say there are no business models to fit this. I really think that they should be doing something. Doesn't someone have a strategy?

Similar circumstances can be found though out the Bible. Jehoshaphat is not the picture of contemporary leaders. However he is the model we should follow. Christian leadership is not the strong rugged ruthless handsome quarterback. When you read the Bible you discover that the men and women that God picks to use are so often marked by hesitancy, timidity and caution. They are marked by uneasiness, a sense of their own personal inadequacy, in other words unlikely people.

"I am the least of my people." God said "That's right Gideon, you are my man"

"I can't speak. I don't know how to speak." God said "That's right Jeremiah, you are my prophet".

This is a necessary reminder. It is the purpose of God that we might depend upon him entirely. This is why this is a story of the supremacy of the enemy and the inadequacy of the people. And it is because of this perspective that God brings things into our lives.

Take children for instance. Having children reminds us that the grace of God does not flow though human genes. They cause us great concern. Why is it that we have thorns in the flesh? Why is it that there is anxiety of our mind, heart and spirit? Why is it that we have a sense of desperation?

It is so that we might know that we are absolutely powerless and that we are absolutely clueless. The temptation is to go to Barns and Noble and consult with the latest self-help book, so that I may not be powerless or clueless. The temptation is to join a new age support group. Both would be a bad move and unhelpful. Why? Because it is in my powerlessness and clueless-ness that I come to stand before God and say "I don't know what to do but my eyes are upon You".

The DNA of a Christian: A Christian never falls asleep in the fires of life, but grows drowsy in the sunshine.

All kinds of care and troubles will come against us, but if they drive us to God and make us aware of your own helplessness, then they are good. God knows this about us. So we live our lives sometimes on a knife edge because God needs his people to get to the point where they are prepared to stand before Him and acknowledge, "I can't".

This kind of leadership is unusual isn't it? You do know that that the reason for this lesson is because I needed this lesson. I often say that I don't have to look far to find something to study for understanding. Lucky for me I heard this lesson from another - I'm simply echoing what I excruciatingly realized. In fact I'm faced with some big decisions and frankly I don't know what to do.

When situations come up there are those that are always concerned with the lack of strategy. Here is our reply. This is the best that we can do at the moment. We don't know what to do. But our eyes are upon God. We invite you around us to stand with us -- weakness admitted. Until we reach the point of where we are prepared to admit it there is no progress.

Then of course the next point - weakness is addressed. The reason that Jehoshaphat can be so straightforwardly honest concerning his deficit is because he is so unbelievably honest at the beginning of his prayer. The confession if his own shortfall is set firmly within the context of all that he knows God to be.

Listen to his Prayer again in interrogative terms. Jehoshaphat sets the frame work of everything he knows God to be.

Verse 6

And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?

Verse 7

Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?

See the importance of all of these words? God it looks like we are about to lose this land. I'm feeling like there is a distinct possibility that we will. The thing that is really helping me here is, didn't you make a promise to Abraham? Didn't you say I'm going to give this to you forever?

So here you are, maybe you had a bad week - bad month - bad year. You might be hearing the voice of the evil one saying you are a complete disaster, you are absolutely useless. Your affirmation efforts on a Sunday are more than matched by the decline in the rest of your week. And you feel that and you're not prepared to deny it. And you're not sure how to help yourself or what to do to offset your feeling of uselessness.

So what do you do? You set it against the truth of the word of God. I am confident that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In the day of Jesus Christ, I feel very much like I'm losing this battle. But your word says you will continue with me. That you will persevere with me that you are a preserving God.

It is not offsetting one set of feelings by another set of feelings. It is bringing our feelings under the tutelage of the truth of God's word. Isn't that what Jehoshaphat does?

Are You not God in heaven?

And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?

Verse 7

Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?

Verse 9

If disaster comes upon us . . . You will hear and save. Us?

The answer is Yes, Yes! In light of that this is what we will do. We will stand before you in your presence and we will cry out to you in our distress.

What are these people doing? Are they just standing there? One replies they seem to be saying something. What are they saying? Well they are just saying again and again. Oh God we are entirely dependant upon you. Oh God it looks as though we are about to be driven out of this land that you promised us. And so the weakness is admitted is the weakness that is addressed in the fact of God's character.

Finally, it is the weakness that is answered when God brings his word to bare upon his people that stand in expectation. Notice that it is the Word of God that is sent by the Spirit of God to the lips of the servant of God that finally gives to the people the direction that they require.

Verse 15 God says I want you to listen King, I want the rest of you to listen. The battle is not yours, it is God's. So this is what you need to do. I want all of you to march down and take your positions and do nothing, and watch the LORD fight this battle; the army would not have to fight at all. In great relief, king and people worshipped the LORD.

Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat assembled his army. But God had told him they wouldn't have to fight - so the army was led, not by the bravest soldiers, as was customary, but by the temple song leaders! They marched to meet the enemy, singing praises to God. As the enemy heard the army of Judah approaching them, singing, they were thrown into confusion. The three armies began bickering with each other, then killing each other. By the time Jehoshaphat's army reached the battlefield, there was no sign of a single survivor.

Next the entire army of Judah was organized into a workforce to carry away everything of value. It is a measure of just how outnumbered Jehoshaphat was -- it took this workforce three days to collect all the plunder!

So hard for us: Take your positions and stand firm. Isn't this exactly what Moses said to the people in Exodus? The armies of Egypt were coming against them. The chariots were coming the wheels were turning. The army was coming, the sea was in front of them, and their predicament was grave. And Moses said stand still, stand firm and you will see the salvation of God.

I believe that this is a word from God for many of us today. It is my sense that all of us seem to make progress in the journey of our days. We all have different responsibilities and different challenges. Some of us feel very unable and inept.

These words are of encouragement to do His will and work. His will is that we believe in his son Jesus. Believe that His son fulfilled the prophecy as the redeemer of man. His work is that we teach others this good news.

It is my hope that this lesson may help give you strength perhaps to approach your first person, strength to give your first invitation or public prayer, strength to teach your first class. Also I know many have or are facing adversity with health, work conditions, and the troubles of everyday life. I hope these words have brought you some comfort. More than anything, if you have not yet committed to God through baptism, this lesson is an encouragement for you to not let yourself down.

Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing.

Paul said when I am weak then I am strong.

Jehoshaphat said we do not know what to do but our eyes are upon you.

Verse 9 'If disaster comes upon us-sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine-we will stand before this temple and in Your presence and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.'

If you are here today and you are not yet responded to Jesus' invitation. His yoke is easy and he will bring you rest.

Contributors: Alistair Begg; Indiucky; Biography from Geocities