Anyone who has ever watched Bugs Bunny cartoons (the old Warner Bros. version) on Saturday mornings as a kid would recall Yosemite Sam uttering the classic expression "jumpin' Jehoshaphat!" It was years later that I learned that there really was a person named Jehoshaphat in history (and there really was an Albuquerque in New Mexico, at which point you could turn left). Jehoshaphat was one of the "good kings" of Judah during a period of time after the glorious reigns of David and Solomon were over and the kingdom had split into warring factions (Judah and Israel). Jehoshaphat was considered a "good king" in the sense that he fought hard against his people adopting the idol-worshiping ways of the nations around them, and took steps to nudge them back to faithful worship of the LORD, while he did his best to keep the Law himself.
A time came during his reign that three of the surrounding heathen nations decided to come and raid the nation of Judah, and this news arrived to the ears of Jehoshaphat and sent a deathly chill through him. He wasn't in a position to make war against these powerful nations, and 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 tells us that "Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord." (NASU)
The king and the people of Judah gathered at the Temple of the LORD to pray, lead by Jehoshaphat himself, seeking God's intervention into what most assuredly would be a national disaster if allowed to go unchecked. In his prayer, Jehoshaphat reminded God that the nations that were drawing up in battle formation to attack just happened to be the very people groups that God had told the Israelite forefathers to not drive out of the Promised Land when they came in a few centuries before. Jehoshaphat cried out to the LORD for protection from these rogues, in as much as they seemed to lack a sense of appreciation for the fact that the nation they were attacking was the very one who let those nation's ancestors go on living!
While this was not the first time someone in the Bible was in dire straits and cried out to God for deliverance, Jehoshaphat's closing words of his prayer struck me the other night as I was reading them. He said, "For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You " (20:12, NASU). What a humbling admission! We're powerless and we don't have a clue as to what to do about it! Have you ever felt just that way?
I'm there right now. I'm out of work and unable to find a new job. The circumstances that lead to my unemployment were beyond my control and (frustratingly) beyond my capacity for remediation. My budget is just barely covered by my unemployment compensation and my wife's fixed income (she is disabled). Many days I feel depressed, frustrated and angry at God for not stepping in at any point along the way to fix the situation that eventually lead to my unemployment. I loved my work and the clients I worked with, even though in retrospect I was in kind of a professional "rut." I have several more severe limitations on my job seeking efforts than I've ever had before. Most days, I feel powerless...and other than contact potential employers and field resumes...and pray...I don't know what to do to fix my situation. And maybe that's where God wants me to be.
God knew centuries before that the Ammonites, Moabites and Meunites would eventually bring trouble to the land of Judah, yet He let them remain in the land, probably for that very purpose. Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die before He arrived in Bethany (John 11), and He stalled his journey there to allow time for the situation to ripen, and Mary and Martha to come to their own point of saying "Lord, we're powerless and don't know what to do!" No crisis situation that catches us unaware has ever caught Him unaware.
Jehoshaphat finished his plea with the words "...our eyes are on You." How hard that must have been! When Peter stepped out of the boat to walk to Jesus on stormy waters (Matthew 14), his eyes were initially on Jesus, but we're told "seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"" (14:30, NASU). I can't help but wonder whether, when Jehoshaphat prayed "our eyes are on You," there were plenty in the nation of Judah who's eyes were elsewhere: on the gathering armies surrounding them, and on the obviously helpless crowd of people gathered at the Temple, "...all Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives and their children "
(20:13, NASU). I gather that Jehoshaphat was talking about "spiritual" eyes, perhaps the eyes that Peter stopped using when his physical eyes saw the wind's effects on the seas. There are two sights, one that sees things as they are, and another that sees beyond things as they are. I'm not using my second sight well these days.
The LORD responded to Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah through a prophet named Jahaziel. He offered them a solution that must have seemed insane at the time (and often prophets speaking "in the Spirit" were perceived as insane, entranced or drunk), saying "You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you" (20:17,NASU). Judah was instructed to put their best singers out in front of the armies, and sing at the oncoming enemies. History tells us that God was true to His word, and that the enemies of Judah routed themselves...and when Judah's armies came upon their enemies all they found was thousands and thousands of dead corpses laying on the ground...it took three whole days for the people of Judah to collect all the plunder and spoil!
I don't know whether God is going to come into my problem with a mighty sweep and fix everything the way He delivered the people of Judah, or in the way He reached out and grabbed Peter. He orchestrated a tight, life-and-death situation for the people of Judah over a period of centuries, and swept in with a miraculous deliverance. This same God, in the human form of Jesus, tarried before going to Bethany, so that the Father could get the credit for the miracle the Son did by raising Lazarus from the dead. I have no assurance that He will necessarily repeat Himself on my behalf in this situation...but I do know that I'm helpless, I don't know what to do, I'm standing here before Him with my disabled wife and totally dependent children...and I need to know what it means to keep my eyes "on Him." When you're not scared out of your wits, it's easy to come up with some theologically plausible-sounding answer to that question. When your heart is pounding almost out of your chest, and the dangers around suck your eyeballs out of your skull...it would take a conscious choice of the will to refocus your attention ("eyes") on anything else.
I want to know what that means. I presume this situation has been set up precisely to provide me the opportunity to find out!
A time came during his reign that three of the surrounding heathen nations decided to come and raid the nation of Judah, and this news arrived to the ears of Jehoshaphat and sent a deathly chill through him. He wasn't in a position to make war against these powerful nations, and 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 tells us that "Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord." (NASU)
The king and the people of Judah gathered at the Temple of the LORD to pray, lead by Jehoshaphat himself, seeking God's intervention into what most assuredly would be a national disaster if allowed to go unchecked. In his prayer, Jehoshaphat reminded God that the nations that were drawing up in battle formation to attack just happened to be the very people groups that God had told the Israelite forefathers to not drive out of the Promised Land when they came in a few centuries before. Jehoshaphat cried out to the LORD for protection from these rogues, in as much as they seemed to lack a sense of appreciation for the fact that the nation they were attacking was the very one who let those nation's ancestors go on living!
While this was not the first time someone in the Bible was in dire straits and cried out to God for deliverance, Jehoshaphat's closing words of his prayer struck me the other night as I was reading them. He said, "For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You " (20:12, NASU). What a humbling admission! We're powerless and we don't have a clue as to what to do about it! Have you ever felt just that way?
I'm there right now. I'm out of work and unable to find a new job. The circumstances that lead to my unemployment were beyond my control and (frustratingly) beyond my capacity for remediation. My budget is just barely covered by my unemployment compensation and my wife's fixed income (she is disabled). Many days I feel depressed, frustrated and angry at God for not stepping in at any point along the way to fix the situation that eventually lead to my unemployment. I loved my work and the clients I worked with, even though in retrospect I was in kind of a professional "rut." I have several more severe limitations on my job seeking efforts than I've ever had before. Most days, I feel powerless...and other than contact potential employers and field resumes...and pray...I don't know what to do to fix my situation. And maybe that's where God wants me to be.
God knew centuries before that the Ammonites, Moabites and Meunites would eventually bring trouble to the land of Judah, yet He let them remain in the land, probably for that very purpose. Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die before He arrived in Bethany (John 11), and He stalled his journey there to allow time for the situation to ripen, and Mary and Martha to come to their own point of saying "Lord, we're powerless and don't know what to do!" No crisis situation that catches us unaware has ever caught Him unaware.
Jehoshaphat finished his plea with the words "...our eyes are on You." How hard that must have been! When Peter stepped out of the boat to walk to Jesus on stormy waters (Matthew 14), his eyes were initially on Jesus, but we're told "seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"" (14:30, NASU). I can't help but wonder whether, when Jehoshaphat prayed "our eyes are on You," there were plenty in the nation of Judah who's eyes were elsewhere: on the gathering armies surrounding them, and on the obviously helpless crowd of people gathered at the Temple, "...all Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives and their children "
(20:13, NASU). I gather that Jehoshaphat was talking about "spiritual" eyes, perhaps the eyes that Peter stopped using when his physical eyes saw the wind's effects on the seas. There are two sights, one that sees things as they are, and another that sees beyond things as they are. I'm not using my second sight well these days.
The LORD responded to Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah through a prophet named Jahaziel. He offered them a solution that must have seemed insane at the time (and often prophets speaking "in the Spirit" were perceived as insane, entranced or drunk), saying "You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you" (20:17,NASU). Judah was instructed to put their best singers out in front of the armies, and sing at the oncoming enemies. History tells us that God was true to His word, and that the enemies of Judah routed themselves...and when Judah's armies came upon their enemies all they found was thousands and thousands of dead corpses laying on the ground...it took three whole days for the people of Judah to collect all the plunder and spoil!
I don't know whether God is going to come into my problem with a mighty sweep and fix everything the way He delivered the people of Judah, or in the way He reached out and grabbed Peter. He orchestrated a tight, life-and-death situation for the people of Judah over a period of centuries, and swept in with a miraculous deliverance. This same God, in the human form of Jesus, tarried before going to Bethany, so that the Father could get the credit for the miracle the Son did by raising Lazarus from the dead. I have no assurance that He will necessarily repeat Himself on my behalf in this situation...but I do know that I'm helpless, I don't know what to do, I'm standing here before Him with my disabled wife and totally dependent children...and I need to know what it means to keep my eyes "on Him." When you're not scared out of your wits, it's easy to come up with some theologically plausible-sounding answer to that question. When your heart is pounding almost out of your chest, and the dangers around suck your eyeballs out of your skull...it would take a conscious choice of the will to refocus your attention ("eyes") on anything else.
I want to know what that means. I presume this situation has been set up precisely to provide me the opportunity to find out!
1 comment:
This post speaks to me on so many levels. After almost a year of unemployment with benefits having run out and substitute teaching (also nearly at an end) not really making ends meet, I find myself in a similar situation. I'm struggling as you are to keep my eyes on God, to fix my eyes on the author and perfecter of my faith, even Jesus. I know God has His reasons for all He does in our lives and in the lives of those we love, but this is a hard place. Yet, I know He is faithful though I know not how He will take care of us. But I do know He will. He promises us this! I will continue to pray for you and Shari that he will show you and provide for you as only He can.
Roberta
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