“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah…And he said, ‘Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.‘ “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, Judah and Jerusalem!‘ Do fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”
2 Chronicles 20:14,15,17
After the receiving news about this vast army about to pounce upon them, Jehoshaphat ‘set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast …’ (v4). Then before the assembled people he prayed aloud, crying out to God for help against this great army. As they waited upon the Lord Jahaziel spoke prophetically. Twice he told them not to be afraid or dismayed and twice he told them ‘Tomorrow go down against them’, but they would never pick up a spear or sword for God was going to fight for them. As they went out the next day they put a team of worshipers in front of the army who worshiped the Lord. As they proceeded the Lord crushed the enemy before them.
There is no formula for victory here but only that when we set ourselves to seek God, hear from Him in our trouble, that He will give us the solution to our dilemma. In this case the Lord told them they would not have to fight for the battle is His. Do not take this as the only word of the Lord for every battle. Sometimes the children of Israel fought and the Lord gave them the victory. There is no one formula for every battle. Get your directions from God. He will show you what you must do.
What is your greatest fear in ministry? Do you fear failure? Do you fear men? Are you fearful that the monies you need will not be there? Sometimes the greatest enemy we face is our own fears in the midst of our battle. Twice the prophet encouraged the people to not give into fear. Why is this so important and what can you do to overcome your fears?
