One of
the pains of deep depression and anxiety is the feeling that everyone around seems to be normal while you are the one who is different and hurting. This feeling often causes more fear and despondency within the anxious soul. The real fact is that everyone is suffering. No one is exempt from fear, loneliness, anger, jealousy, illness, hatred, guilt, worry, pain, or any of the other troubles that come with living in a sinful world. Each of us has battles to fight. No one is exempt. Satan roams the earth seeking to kill, destroy, and cause whatever grief he can muster, all for the purpose of taking our focus off of God and centering instead on ourselves.
Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah. He reigned 25 years, and his was a good and God-fearing palace. Yet Jehoshaphat was no stranger to battling problems of his own. It happened that three enemies allied together to attack Israel. Scripture tells us that “the Moabites and the Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat” (20:1). This was no small army, for Jehoshaphat admits in his prayer to God, “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” (20:12).
If we watch Jehoshaphat’s battle develop, we notice that his first reaction was to talk to God, to take his concerns to the Lord. In fact, not only did he come before the Lord, but all of Judah joined him in his prayer for help.
God answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer and told him, “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s’” (20:15). What a profound statement! And furthermore, God told Jehoshaphat and his people, “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you” (20:17). God would fight this battle, and fight it he did. Instead of battling the children of Israel, their enemies fought among themselves and destroyed their own forces: “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” (20:24).
How often do we collapse under the weight of our own problems? How many gray hairs do we earn from worry? How many sleepless nights do we spend because we carry our own burdens while God is urging us to cast our cares on him, to come to him when we are burdened or weary?
If God could destroy the enemies of Judah, he can lead us through the darkest nights and the deepest problems. “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10).
Remember when the children of Israel came to the Red Sea while running from Pharaoh’s army? The Israelites were helpless. Mountains stood to the right of them and behind them. Pharaoh’s army was bearing down on them from the left, and the Red Sea was in front of them. And what was Moses’ command to the people? “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still” (Exodus 14:14).
Who fights your battles? Do you feel the need to be commander in chief? Do you think your shoulders are big enough to carry all the weight? Who only can defeat the enemy? King Hezekiah said it well: “With us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles” (2 Chronicles 32:8).
With might of ours can naught be done,
Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the Valiant One,
Whom God Himself elected!
(from “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”)