Hope Unswervingly

  Read 2 Chronicles 20:5-12 When the people had gathered to seek God together, King Jehoshaphat prayed aloud on behalf of their nation. His words are recorded in these verses. Notice how he starts by recalling God’s great and miraculous interventions for Israel as they came into the Promised Land. He acknowledges that they have been up against some impossible situations before and God has seen them through it. Because of their history together, Jehoshaphat and his people were again seeking help from the God they knew they could count on. There is a very human element to this prayer—a desperate plea for the Lord to act. You know, when we came out of Egypt, you (God) told us to leave these people alone and not drive them out. Now they are coming after us! We need you to help us protect the land that you gave us ! He is at once praising God for His power and reminding Him of His promise to the Israelite people. Once Jehoshaphat has laid everything out before God, he gets down to the

  Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. That is quite a name. He is one of a long list of kings in the old testament. Unlike some of those kings, he has quite a long list of good accomplishments to his credit. When I am thrown a curve ball in life, the piece of Jehoshaphat’s story in 2 Chronicles 20 is full of things I need to remember. With Jehoshaphat as our teacher, let’s see what we can learn. Read 2 Chronicles 20:1-4 Jehoshaphat was about to be overwhelmed. The armies of three different people groups were gathering to fight against him. It was a vast number of opposing soldiers, and they were already very close when the king learned of it. That is when Jehoshaphat made the first great decision of this crisis: He sought the Lord in his fear. In fact, it says that he RESOLVED to seek the Lord. It seems this wasn’t his automatic response – he was probably shaking in his boots and wanted to panic and run—but with an act of will, he chose to seek God’s perspective on this situation. And

  Read Jeremiah 17:5-8 and John 10:10 For the last five years, I have skipped the New Year's resolutions. Actually, it has been much longer than that, but it was in the last five years that I have chosen a new approach that has been working for me. Instead of a resolution, I choose a word that will be my focus for the year - something that I can apply to every aspect of my life throughout the year. These words help me grow, discern choices, and give me a mindset to hold onto. Two of my favorite words have been brave and improve . I've been thinking and praying about my word for 2021. I have considered hope , adjust , and stretch . Although these all speak to an aspect of what I need for the coming year, none of these settled on my heart. Then this morning I was thinking about how we have been living during COVID-19. The mindset tends to be "just get through it" or "endure it until it is over." To survive. The Casting Crowns lyrics came into my mind. "

    2 Cor. 12:9 -10  But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Therefore I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me .  So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.           Our daughter played tennis in high school, and I found it a fun game to watch. It was particularly exciting whenever the scoring got to “deuce,” meaning the score was tied and one player needed to score twice in a row to win the game. When one player scored the first point after deuce, she was said to have the “advantage,” which meant she only needed one more point to win, whereas her opponent needed three!           When we recognize our weakness and ask God to supply His strength, you and I have that kind of advantage! We are already “one up” on the opponent (Satan) simply because of who’s on our