Front Lines

One of my favorite stories is found in 2 Chronicles 20. This is my version of the story, although I encourage you to read it in context for yourself sometime soon.

Jehoshaphat, the king of God's people, gets a surprise message one day announcing that a giagntic army is coming to attack him. In the shock of the moment, his response is to go to the Lord. Then God, instead of telling Jehoshaphat to saddle his horses and sharpen his swords, tells the king to do something entirely different and unexpected. He instructs him to not be afraid or discouraged, but to stand his ground and watch what the Lord will do. God tells Jehoshaphat that the battle does not belong to him anyway. It belongs to God.

The next day, Jehoshaphat takes his army out to battle, but instead of putting the strongest men or the fastest horses on the front line, he appoints a group of worshippers to lead the way. They actually approach this vast army and go out into battle while praising God.

Then God, the hero of the story, causes the enemy army to fall down in defeat. At the power of His praises, God wins the victory. No swords, no horses, no muscles, no strategy...just praise and worship and adoration of the One who fights our battles and defeats our enemies for the sake of His name.

I love this story because it relates so perfectly to our own battles. The struggles and stresses that we face often seem so vast. The trials and temptations that advance against us seem too big for us to handle.

But our first instinct must be to go to God. In the heat of the moment when we don't know what to do, we report to our Commander, our Maker and Deliverer.

That's when God reaches down and whispers, "Don't be discouraged. Don't be afraid. This battle is mine! Take your stand and watch how I will intervene for you. I will rescue you, and you will bring me glory."

So we go out to battle, not with our muscles flexed or strategies planned, but with praise on our lips. We begin to get a bigger picture of who God is when we worship Him. As our knowledge and awareness of who He is expands, we then realize that we can actually enter into the very presence of this awesome, one and only God. He resides in our hearts, loves us unconditionally, and promises to be with us every moment. In His presence, fear flees. Discouragement fades away. Stresses and struggles shrink in His presence because of how wonderful He is.

With praise on our lips and worship in our hearts, we will watch the army fall before our very eyes. At the name of Jesus, the enemy scatters - he cannot stand. The battle is won. That's the power of our Savior God, our Deliverer and Defender, our Stronghold, our Victory!