Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ “ Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful. ”After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.”

During the reign of Jehoshaphat, a vast army came up from Edom against Israel. They were clearly greater in numbers and power than the forces of Israel, so Jehoshaphat cried out to God, saying, “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (2 Chr. 20:12).

There are times in our lives that we simply don’t know how to respond to the event or the dilemma before us. There are truly things against which we have no power and no answers. Jehoshaphat recognized his dilemma when three kings combined their armies against Israel. He showed wisdom in two things: (1) He acknowledged his own limitations, and (2) he acknowledged that God has no limitations. He then simply declared, “Our eyes are upon you.” There are times we must choose to trust God and see what God will do on our behalf. Our faith falls on the nature of God and who he is for us – his chosen people. Every crisis, every dilemma offers the opportunity to discover more of who the Father is for us. We look to see what will he do out of his nature and his love for us.

Sometimes, we are taken by surprise. Jehoshaphat was stunned that God had even allowed these armies to form and conspire against Israel, but they were, in fact, marching briskly toward Jerusalem. The text says that all the men of Judah, with their wives and children, stood before the Lord and waited for a response. In that moment, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, the priest, who declared to the king and the assembly, “This is what the Lord says to you, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours but God’s…take up your positions, stand firm, and see the deliverance the Lord will give you” (2 Chr.20:15-17).

We need to understand that Old Testament battles are our blueprints for spiritual warfare. In the face of overwhelming news, the Lord reminded his people that they did not fight out of their own strength but out of his. They were to take up their positions, but primarily to witness what God would do for them. Their part was to show up for the battle but then to begin to praise and worship the Lord. As they began to turn their hearts toward Jehovah and lift up praise, he began to set ambushes. The three armies that had combined their forces against Israel were suddenly afraid, confused, and turning on one another. They slaughtered one another without Israel wielding one weapon in the natural realm. All that was left was to pick up the plunder left behind by these defeated armies.

Satan loves to intimidate and send forth a spirit of fear when he moves against God’s people. Sometimes we can overcome the enemy with the divine weapons and strategies God has already given us. At other times, what he has shown us in the past seems inadequate for the present. In those moments he is preparing to show us something new. Our part is to trust him to be who he is for us. God is unchanging. Every example of battle in the Old Testament records victory for God’s people when their hearts were turned toward him. God, by his very nature, is victorious. He cannot be anything else and he always wants to be that for his people.

Secondly, we must take up our positions and stand as children of the King, soldiers of Christ, and the faithful who have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind – a mind in harmony with the mind of Christ. We are to take up our positions with our eyes on God, waiting to see the victory and the good that God will bring out of inexplicable tragedies. It is the nature of God to create good – to create victory out of the very things Satan means for harm.

When there seems to be no adequate response to the enemy then, the most powerful weapon we can roll out is the weapon of praise and worship with our eyes fixed on the Father, the Son and the Spirit. When we worship we defy the enemy who has tried to intimidate us and take away our hearts. When we worship we remind ourselves of who God is and who he is for us. When we worship, we increase the presence of God against whom the enemy cannot stand. When we worship in the face of overwhelming odds or tragedy we can be sure that God is setting ambushes in the spiritual realm, confusing the enemy, and turning demons against one another. We then will claim the victory that Satan had once claimed. A cross and three spikes is the ultimate example of God drawing incredible good out of what seemed to be inexplicable tragedy and loss.

When we feel overwhelmed and are left with no discernable response to something that has happened, then we are to set our eyes on the Father, take up our positions in anticipation of seeing who the Father will be for us, and then worship. God will take care of the rest.

There is nothing like a championship game, won in the final seconds when your team was down and victory seemed impossible. Suddenly, the opposing team, who seemed to dominate the entire game, begins to falter. Your team begins to surge and in the last moment the unbelievable pass to the end zone or the three point shot from the edge steals the victory when all seemed lost. God specializes in those wins. It seems to take the heart out of the enemy even more than if we always dominated. It also allows us to cheer louder for our Great King who always comes through because that is who he is. Wait, praise, and see what God does. You will be amazed.

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:6-9)

[We buried two amazing Christian friends this past weekend who died tragically.  I believe God pointed me to this verse for my heart and, perhaps, for the hearts of others who are wounded by this loss.]

There are times when we have to choose to be strong and courageous. We have to choose it because the enemy has just knocked us down. The book of Joshua opens with the death of Moses. Think about the loss of that lone figure who faced down Pharaoh, led the nation of Israel through the Red Sea, stood on the mountain with God, pleaded for rebellious Israel when God would destroy them and start over, led them through the wilderness for forty years, brought water from the rock, and spoke face-to-face with God every day. For those who had been children when they left Egypt, he was the only leader they had ever known. He was such a figure and so esteemed by God that they must have felt that he was eternal, that he would never die. In fact, we are told that at the age of 120, “his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Dt.34:7). And yet, he did die. The Israelites grieved for thirty days and then God told Joshua to get ready to take the land he had promised to them.

We often think of these great men and women of the Bible as superheroes, full of resolve and never doubting, but they were flesh and blood just like us. They had their weaknesses, their doubts, their moments of failure, and fear just like we do. Suddenly, Joshua must have felt the weight of leadership like never before. Up to that moment, he simply carried out orders that came from the lips of Moses. It was Moses who had to hear from God. Now he had to hear correctly. Would the people accept him as their leader? Now he had to lead, knowing that not everyone would cast their vote for him if it were decided by election. There had always been  opponents of Moses, how much more might they oppose him? And then there was the enemy across the river. They still had to face warring people with fortified cities. The Nephilim were still in the land. Israel was still no nation of military might and strategy. They were mostly nomads who had wandered the wilderness for forty years until they buried their parents. Very few had any experience in warfare.

Three times, in these three verses, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. The reason was simple – God would be with him and God was determined that his people would inherit the land God had promised to Abraham and to them. Joshua had many reasons to doubt his calling, to doubt his leadership, and, perhaps, to doubt that he was even hearing from God. I know there must have been moments when he had to engage his will to believe, to be strong and courageous, and to take the land God had promised. Undoubtedly, Satan was not absent from those moments. He had been in the camp since Israel left Egypt sowing fear and discord, golden calves, and rebellion. Surely he was there when Joshua was given his commission planting doubt and accusation in his mind.

There are always two trees in our garden. One is the Tree of Life, which we access by faith; the other is the tree of death that bears the fruit of Satan’s lies. We have to choose which tree we will tend and from which tree we will eat. God called Joshua to feed on his word and his commandments for life flows from those. God called Joshua to meditate on his promises and on the purposes that God had established for his people. He called on Joshua to meditate on the very nature of God and who God had been for his people for forty years.

From that focus comes strength and courage. If you think about it, the odds of success were the same for Israel crossing the Jordan this time, as they were when Israel balked at crossing the river forty years earlier. Reason would say they were still out-manned and out-gunned. Faith said that the same God, who broke the back of Pharaoh, would do the same with the enemies of Israel that occupied their land.

God always defies human reason. Faith grabs hold of that and even when the enemy gets a punch in, the strong and courageous get back on their feet with an assurance that one punch does not settle the fight. They get back on their feet with a determination to finish the task that God has given them because he had promised to never leave them or forsake them and to give them victory in the end.

God’s call on our lives seems light and bright when everything is going our way, meeting our expectations, and making sense to us. But there will be times when the enemy gets in a punch and, perhaps, even knocks us to the canvas gasping for air.   If we are shaken by the experience of that blow getting by our defenses, believe that God has forsaken us, or that the enemy is too strong, we will certainly loose. If we rise up, however, more determined than ever to believe God for the victory he has promised and to hit back even harder, then we will lead our people to inherit the land God has promised them. We will fulfill our commission.

Some days, in the face of disappointment, loss, tragedy, weariness, and uncertainty there is a part of us that feels defeated and, perhaps, even wants to give up. We, like Elijah, just want to run and hide. That is when we must hear God’s whisper, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous… Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” So, whatever you are facing or feeling today, decide to be strong and courageous for he is surely with us. Catch your breath, feed on the Tree of Life, soak in the Word, bathe your heart in praise, and rise up more determined that ever to push ahead. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”