Skip to main content

Alarm plus Resolve

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

This was the prayer uttered by Jehoshaphat king of Judah when he heard the news that a vast army was coming against him. 2 Chronicles 20:3 says that although he was alarmed he resolved to seek the Lord.  Some ladies in my church and I are doing Lisa TerKeurst’s study called “Trustworthy,” and I was reading what she said about this scripture this morning.  King Jehoshaphat “had both the feelings of alarm that are a natural human response to his threatening situation and a supernatural resolve to inquire of the Lord.“

 I can’t think of a more perfect description of what we are walking through as a city, state, country, and around the globe right now. As we face the threat of an invisible army, an invasion that we cannot defeat in the natural, it is OK to feel alarmed. As our communities in some places are moving forward with opening back up, those of us who feel fearful when we are not in control may be a big swirl of emotions right now.  I know I am!

Of course I can’t wait to leave my kids with a babysitter and pig out at the local Mexican restaurant just like the rest of you!  I can almost taste those hot chips and fresh salsa with my Coke on the side!  But on the other hand, leaving the safety of our homes and interacting with others again means opening ourselves up to what we cannot see and cannot control. I’m a healthy person and not concerned for myself, but I do have two children with pretty serious asthma… so I’ll just leave that one right there.  And while I’m busy feeling #AllTheFeelings, I will confess I’ve had a teeny, tiny twinge of sadness if I am honest at the thought of going back to real life. I have loved all the time being home with my children! I am a nester, and there’s nothing that makes me happier than having all my  favorite people here in the nest with me.        

My take away from the Bible study this morning is that it is OK to have those natural feelings of alarm, but what we do with that will write history. Will we be like Jehoshaphat and resolve to seek the Lord?  As you go on to read the rest of chapter 20, Jehoshaphat and all the people are fasting and praying. He prays, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  Truly there’s not a person on this planet that knows exactly how to handle today or tomorrow. But that’s OK. Our response has got to be that we fix our eyes on Jesus.

As Jehoshaphat and all the people are praying the Bible says the Spirit of the Lord came on a descendent of one of the priests. He prophesied to them, “ Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s...  (17) you will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”

Do those words resonate with you? They ring true deep in my heart.  Our God does not want us to be afraid or discouraged. As we face what tomorrow brings He will be with us! Jehoshaphat decided to put worshipers in front of his army and as they went out the next day it says they were singing to the Lord and praising Him for the splendor of His holiness! God did a miracle that day.  He caused neighboring peoples to rise up and ambush the invading army. When Jehoshaphat and his people got to the valley where the army was, there was no one left alive to fight them.  God had supernaturally defeated the enemy.  


Friends, sisters, mamas,  it’s time for us to respond to the alarm we feel inside with our resolve to inquire of the Lord. Today is the day for us to stand honestly before him and say we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You. This is the season for us take whatever those next steps are with praise and worship leading the way.  God is no respecter of persons. I believe He will do for us what He did for the people of Judah if we will choose to respond like they did- making room for our Trustworthy God to show himself strong!
I made them wear the dresses to hunt Easter eggs
in the backyard since
 Easter morning 2020 =  pajamas!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deafening Silence

In a single second my life has been radically altered.  My precious gift from God, sweet Makiah Kaitlyn, has gone to be with Jesus long before her time.  I know in my heart that she is happy, but my arms are so empty... my house so dreadfully quiet.  I feel at times that a horrible blackness has enveloped me.  I feel as though my insides are screaming.  I am clawing and fighting to break out of this torturous body- to escape from this oppressive reality, but I cannot escape.  The dark anguish leaps on me again and again.  It sits on my chest and presses against my very life breath.  My heart feels utterly crushed and broken- pummeled into a thousand pieces.  Life as I knew it has been shattered and the shards that are left are painful and sharp.  Cutting me as I try to walk through them.  This is the valley of the shadow of death.  How dark is that shadow! Her room is perfectly untouched.  All of the dolls in her dollhouse family are piled into their little bed together where she lef
Post a Comment
Read more

Toes

Outside the sky is grey and dreary.  I feel it should rain torrents today.  I think the whole earth should cry out in grief.  I feel my heart pounding in my head.  My eyes will barely open, and I think no more tears can possibly come.  Maybe I will stand in the rain and borrow the tears from the sky. I look down at sparkly pink toes, and they are lonely.  Makiah, our last Sunday together you spent the morning in bed with Mommy (because I am on bed rest).  We ate fruit loops and snuggled.  We practiced drawing your letters and painted our fingers and toes.  You wanted rainbow toes, but I didn't have the colors with me.  I promised I'd paint you rainbow toes later.  Once we were all pink you said, "I got an idea!  Let's put sparklies over the pink, and you have to do it, too, Mommy, so we can be twins!"  You are such a princess!  So pink toes became sparkly toes.  We giggled and hugged and admired our matching feet. Now mine sit all alone.  Ten toes that should
Post a Comment
Read more

Wells of Living Water

My eyes filled with tears when my mother-n-law told me of her friend's idea.  This sweet lady, whom I've never met, wanted to know if she could do something special in honor of Makiah.  She said God had put it on her heart to start a well project for her.  She would sell "living water well charms" through Operation Blessing International to raise money to build a well for underprivelaged children in a poverty stricken country.  She said when 600 charms have been purchased, a well with a permanent plaque would be built to commemorate Makiah's life.  Not only was this an amazing idea, it was linked to my daughter's heart in a way that shocked me... What this thoughtful lady could not have known was that only 2 weeks before the accident, Makiah came into the kitchen on a Sunday morning carrying her whole piggy bank.  She told me she wanted to take it all to "give to the kids who need clean water."  The preschool class at church had been raising money
Post a Comment
Read more