The Truth When You’re Facing a Battle

When we’re facing a battle too big for us, we need to anchor ourselves in the faithfulness and power of God. Since God has allowed the battle, ultimately the battle is not ours. The battle is the Lord’s. 

One of the most stunning chapters where God demonstrates this is 2 Chronicles 20. 

This chapter came up in my daily Bible reading when I was dreading the one year mark of Dan’s death, and I was mired in deep despair and grief. I was fighting fear and loneliness, financial issues and parenting struggles. Even the broken lawnmower felt like an enemy.

I needed the powerful reminder in 2 Chronicles 20 that God fights for me. He fights for you, too.

If you’re facing a battle and need reminding of your all-mighty, always faithful God, buckle up to dive into this chapter. 

First, let’s look at the overwhelming battle Judah was facing in Chapter 20.

King Jehoshaphat who ruled Judah is regarded as a “good king.” He had worked hard to turn Judah from its idol worship back to God. Yet, despite following hard after God, he suddenly faced an unprovoked war from three neighboring countries who’d allied together to obliterate Judah. In 2 Chronicles 20, Judah becomes surrounded by these enemies.

“Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army is coming against you from Edom. .  . it is already in Hazazon Tamar (that is En Gedi).’” (2 Chron 20:2)

How did King Jehoshaphat respond?

He could have grumbled that he was facing a battle when he’d obeyed God, unlike so many other ungodly kings.

He could have rallied his troops, planned a strategic counterattack and reinforced the border.

He could even have panicked. 

But he did none of these. Here’s how King Jehoshaphat did respond and what we can learn about facing our own battles.

6 Truths When You’re Facing a Battle

1. In battle, seek God’s guidance first.

“Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”

Before any plan was made, before he ran to any counselor, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord.

2. In battle, acknowledge God’s in control.

“O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.”

The enemies weren’t driving the circumstance. They had no authority over God’s people. No matter how dire our circumstances, God is sovereign.

3. In battle, remember God’s faithfulness and promises.

“O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword or judgment or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’”

Each new trial can cause a new crisis of belief for us.  Remembering how God has already worked on our behalf bolsters our faith during trials.

God has not taken you this far to drop you now.

4. In battle, admit utter dependence on God.

“’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.’”

Ever been in a place where you had no answer whatsoever and could only look to God?

That’s a place of utter dependence on God. Don’t miss that God — acting in perfect love — had allowed Judah to get to a place of utter dependence on him.

Why? Maybe because when we are utterly dependent on God, we learn to trust him more than ever. And with our eyes on God, we see him more than ever as well. That’s where we find Judah. 

“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.’”

God allowed Judah to come face-to-face with a battle too hard for them and then revealed this foundational truth. Though specifically spoken to Judah, it’s a Biblical principle that applies to all of God’s children. 

Praise God. We could stop right here and have meat enough to feed on for days. But let’s keep going because what God does next is jaw-dropping.

“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.”

The battle was the Lord’s but they didn’t get to stay home in bed.

In faith, Judah had to march out, take up positions and stand firm before seeing how God would deliver beyond their wildest imagination.

5. In battle, worship the Lord.

Praise is powerful! Praise redirects our focus from our problems to God over our problems. It helps us have peace in the midst because our mind and heart are focused on the Lord.

“Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.”

What had changed? The dark clouds of a gathering enemy still loomed, but Israel had traded fear for faith, ushering in praise.

6. In battle, thank God for his goodness before the rescue.

“Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. . . 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.’”

So many of us are quick to thank God when we get the answer to pray we want or when God powerfully delivers us. But God’s goodness doesn’t start and stop. We can thank God for his goodness before the rescue ever comes.

God is Love and no circumstance that will ever exist on this good earth will change that. Can you even imagine how fragrant the thanks and praise offered in that hour was to God? Oh, to be men and women who know and declare that God is good before we ever catch the first glimpse of deliverance.

Now let this next portion play like a movie reel as the scene unfolds.

“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. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.”

Can you picture the men of Judah marching in formation, the echo of praise streaming from the front, the rush of adrenaline coursing through their bodies, cresting the hill that would bring them face to face with their enemy and then seeing instead the vast valley littered with fallen bodies of every single enemy soldier?

Surely they were stunned. Astounded. Gape-jawed. And taking in the scene, overcome at the rock-solid confirmation that the battle is indeed the Lord’s. 

The battle was God’s. Their role had been to obey and praise.

But that’s not the end of the story:

“So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder . . . more than they could carry away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.”

Oh friend, don’t chalk this up to a good Bible story without applying these truths to your own battles.

Trials and suffering, hard as they are, can be plundered for great value. Right in the middle of suffering, if we will trust God and look to him, he has lessons and good we can plunder from our enemy. 

It’s straight up hard to stay sitting down when THIS is the God we serve. 

Are you in a battle right now? You don’t have to have the all the answers. Look to God and watch him fight for you.