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Battle Plan

by Jerry Ousley
9/15/2023 / Christian Living

Battle Plan

By Jerry D. Ousley

I was a sophomore in high school. Where I attended at the time required me to change buses at a local grade school. Sometimes we had to wait awhile before the bus left to take us home. At that time schools offered some practical application classes like wood shop, home-economics and machine shop. They don’t do that much anymore and what a loss it is. Anyway, this particular day, as I left the bus that took me from the high school to the grade school, I noticed a group of boys bullying another kid. Upon closer inspection I discovered that this kid was non-other than my cousin. I couldn’t stand by and let this happen so I promptly walked over and demanded that they let my cousin go. They did, but then they started on me. At that time, I was a skinny fellow of a whopping 120 lbs. The guy leading the group was a heavy-set young man of probably 180 lbs. or more. He had somehow managed to bring home a round steel bar from machine shop and he had been using it to poke my cousin. Now he started poking me in the chest demanding, “what are you going to do about it, kid!?” Surrounded by his buddies I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew that I was in for a good “pounding” and so I took a chance and said, “You wouldn’t be so tough if you did have that steel bar as a weapon,” to which his buddies took thought and mused, “Yeah, he’s right.” So, to save face he handed the bar to one of the other guys and then said, “Now what are you going to do punk?” Things didn’t look good for the home boy.

It was just at that time that the bus driver came around from the other side of the bus and saw what was getting ready to go down,” Hey, what’s going on here?” At that the gang of boys quickly and promptly disbursed and I wasted no time getting on the bus. I knew that someone bigger than me had fought that battle in my place.

On a much larger scale, Israel faced a similar situation. Jehoshaphat was king, and even though he had a somewhat humorous name, he was one of the good kings of Judah. The armies of Moab, Ammon and some others had assembled to come against Judah. Note that the people of both Moab and Ammon originated from second cousins of the Israeli people, as they were descendants from Lot. Anyway, the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 20:2, “Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar’ (which is En Gedi).” The Bible goes on to say that Jehoshaphat was afraid. But instead of cowering in the corner of the palace, he gathered the people together and they collectively prayed to God for help. If you read on in 2 Chronicles 20 you will read the prayer that they prayed.

Before we call them cowards, let’s stop a moment and think about what they did to conquered kingdoms in those days. First, after many of the men were brutally killed, the women were raped, then those men who had survived the battle were taken as slaves and given to hard labor for the remainder of their short lives, and afterward the women and children were taken as slaves. Sometimes the married women and those carrying children were executed because they weren’t virgins. So, it was something to fear.

As they prayed and sought the LORD, we are told that one of the Levites stood up and said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:14-17).

Can you imagine the faith it took to take this man at his word, that he had actually heard from God? But they did just that. Come the next day, instead of standing with spears, swords and shields raised, they simply stood as the LORD had revealed to Jahaziel. In fact, they even appointed singers to stand out in front and sing praises to God (2 Chronicles 20:21). They were appointed to sing, “Praise the LORD, for His mercy endures forever.” Verse 22 says this: “Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.” Wow! Can you even imagine!? If you continue to read the chapter you will see how the LORD did it. You will also see that they collected so much spoil from the slain that it took all the people three days to gather it all. It goes without saying, that this was indeed a great victory that God wrought for His people.

Does God still do things like this for His people? You bet He does. But it might not always be exactly like this. Sometimes we do have great victories. We can testify of them and show people how the real God of gods can make a difference. I’d say there are many of you who could testify of great miracles given by the LORD.

On the other hand, there are those of you who might question, saying something like, “God’s never done anything like this for me. Maybe He doesn’t love me as much.” The devil is always present to tempt us to believe things like that, especially when we are in devastating hardships, physically, mentally or financially. “Why God?” But I want to go on record as saying, don’t give up. I firmly believe that somehow, in the midst of your hardship, God will show up. He has heard your prayer. He doesn’t play favorites. He knows your pain, your anguish and your fear. He might not come through in a mighty way like he did for King Jehoshaphat, but I know He will come through.

In other Biblical examples some have fought long and hard to see the same victories. David always had to fight for his life. Yet God blessed him abundantly and even called him “a man after His own heart.” (I Samuel 14:13). You may stand still and see a great victory or you may have to fight hard battles to see the same. But God will not let you down. Ultimately, He always gives the victory for His children. That’s the key, you see. You must be a child of God. Have you given Him your life? Have you asked Him for salvation? Have you believed despite all the disbelief in our world today? Have you stood for Him when it seems impossible? Jehoshaphat had to put complete trust in the word given to Jahaziel. But when he did, God gave the victory. He will for you too, if you will put your complete trust in Him, never doubting, even in the midst of great fear. Stand firm. Even while your heart beats fast because of fear, God will come through. Stand still, and you’ll see!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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