One of my absolute favourite Bible stories is the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. In this story, Israel was delivered from the hands of a mighty and intimidating enemy — the armies of Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir.
The king — Jehoshaphat — called a fast to tackle this impending attack that was beyond their control. A word then came that they should go to war but not fear, as the battle was not theirs but the Lord's. They were given instructions to march up to the war and God would fight for them.
While reading it occurred to me — though the Lord told them the battle was not theirs, the Lord still asked them to go.
Huh?
Often we assume that because God says the battle isn't ours, it means we should sit down and do nothing. We want to avoid the fight. We expect to stay home while God goes off to fight for us and demolishes our enemies. But no. He instructs us to go. Go up towards our enemies, our difficult situations and challenges. To move towards it — and He will fight and ultimately guarantee the victory.
But why send us to go, if He is going to do it anyway?
Well, I think "going" shows a few things.
1. Going displays faith
Picture it — the Israelites left for war just singing worship songs. They were marching and singing towards the site of an army that clearly outnumbered them. They possibly never even had weapons.
The very act of getting up and marching out took extreme faith. To believe the word, believe God's faithfulness and believe God's power. What if God was lying? They would have arrived with no weapons, outnumbered, and certainly defeated.
Faith without works is dead. — James 2:14–26
The scripture said that as they marched, the Lord confused the army and they started to kill each other. It was arguably in executing the instructions that their faith released God to work.
2. Going teaches us to trust
We learn through going to trust God's voice and leading. When we move on seemingly pointless or crazy instructions and we see Him show up, this builds our confidence in Christ — and in ourselves.
Firstly, in the fact that God can be trusted to show up and work mightily. But secondly, it builds our confidence in knowing that we do hear His voice and that He does have our back.
3. When we go, there is a reward
If the Lord had stopped the enemy from coming, that would have been great and a miracle in itself. Life would have continued as normal. However, when they went and arrived on location, what they saw was all their enemies dead — and lots of stuff left behind.
In those days, after a war, the winning side took the spoils. Everything valuable that the defeated left behind. So not only did God defeat their enemies — they got the spoils of the battle. According to scripture, it was so much it took them three days to gather it all.
If they never went, they wouldn't have reaped the rewards. They would have been safe — but not blessed. The discomfort of going brought the benefit of blessing.
4. God is all about partnership
God invites us to partner with Him on the issues of our lives. Contrary to popular belief, He isn't just a magician or a butler in the sky, there to grant our every wish. Neither does He make our decisions for us — He is no dictator. He seeks to partner with us as we accomplish things together for His glory.
He wants us to consult Him in our situations, trust His guidance, and receive His empowerment and favour to accomplish His will and overcome our challenges.
Today, let us repent for "not going" when God promises intervention on our steps of faith. Repent for not applying for the job, not contacting that person, not applying to the school.
The battle may not be ours, but we are still expected to show up on the battlefield. David showed up against Goliath. Gideon showed up against the Midianites. Ruth showed up for Naomi. And they all reaped the rewards and blessings of their steps.
Let us consult the Lord in our crises and move forward in faith and prayer after we've heard what to do — knowing that with Him fighting our battles, we are sure to win.
Have you ever stepped out in faith into something you were scared to do? Share in the comments — I'd love to hear your story.