Don’t Panic
2 Chronicles 20:3 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Engedi. Jehoshaphat became afraid, and he decided to ask the LORD what to do. He announced a time of fasting for everyone in Judah.
In the middle of a crisis, when you hear some guy yell out “Don’t Panic” … there’s one thing for certain. The guy’s panicking!
Look, every now and then, you and I are going to be afraid of something. I don’t care how strong, how confident, how together you are, or how much you think you have it all under control. At some stage you’re going to run into fear. It happens to all of us.
And when we’re afraid, we can end up make some really bad decisions. Like stepping over the line … from that feeling of fear, into raw panic. And when panic sets in, boy, are we prone to making some terrible decisions. Decisions that’ll bite us, big time!
But there is an alternative; a much, much better alternative. Back in the days of old, a king called Jehoshaphat had a mighty army come against him. There was no way he could win.
Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Engedi. Jehoshaphat became afraid, and he decided to ask the LORD what to do. He announced a time of fasting for everyone in Judah. (2 Chronicles 20:3)
Of course he was afraid. Who wouldn’t be? That massive army was going to destroy his nation. And when armies like that won, they’d typically torture and kill the vanquished king.
We’re told here that Jehoshaphat was afraid, a very human response. His kingdom and his life were at stake. The odds were completely impossible. But instead of raw panic, he made the best decision that anyone could possibly have made:
Jehoshaphat became afraid, and he decided to ask the LORD what to do.
As you read the rest of the story there in 2 Chronicles Chapter 20, as this massive army draws closer, as these fearful events unfold, it turns out that asking God what to do was absolutely the best decision that Jehoshaphat could possibly have made.
So, the next time the odds are stacked against you, the next time there’s nothing, in human terms, that you can possibly do, which path are you going to choose? Will you act rashly out of raw panic, or will you enquire of the Lord and ask Him what you should do?
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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