When We Don't Know What To Do

Let's turn our Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20 verses 1-13.

! And this is the word of the Lord.

And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord. From all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

That is coming against us.

We do not know what to do. But our eyes are on you. Verse 13. Now Jehoshaphat was considered in the Bible to be a good king.

He walked in the ways of the Lord. At the same time it was kind of a mixed bag. At the same time he did not take the high places down. As his father Asa did not either.

But nonetheless the nation of Judah, the kingdom of Judah was able to have two good kings in a row. Which was quite rare. Beyond David and Solomon that really never happened until Asa and Jehoshaphat.

So for them to have a good number of years under good kings who cared about the spiritual things. Of what the Old Testament says. Of what God's covenant was about.

That was a good thing for Judah. And yet in this situation they got to enjoy more of that. But nonetheless there was this calamity that happened.

This peril. This disaster. The title of this message I want to bring to you all is When We Don't Know What to Do. And I think all of us get into a situation from time to time when we can say that.

We just simply do not know what to do. Now the simple answer is this. We turn to God. And we'll look at that and unpack that if you will.

What that's talking about. But we get in these situations where we don't know what to do. This last Saturday. I think. Yeah. Saturday. I had a birthday. And I turned 38 years old.

And that's kind of an important day for me. Or at least an age. So I had a good friend about 15 years ago. Who passed away at 38.

And she died of cancer. A very serious situation. And she had family. A husband. Two children. And left them. And it was a long and devastating illness.

Went to remission a couple of times. But you know the cancer just simply came back. And it came back worse. Went through chemotherapy. And all kinds of other treatments as well.

And yet. And yet. I could see in her. And her husband. Tim. What it meant. To seek God as their true refuge.

To turn to him. In a very difficult time. In their young lives. In their young marriage. This is. Something that could happen.

When someone is older. But for those in their 30s. To go through this terrible situation. With children in the home. It was devastating. And difficult for an entire church body.

To see as well. And yet we saw. What it meant. To turn to God. In a very dire situation. I know in my life.

And my wife. Having Micah. And at three years old. Having a diagnosis of autism. And he's now eight and a half years old. And there's been some great things.

That have happened. Some wonderful roads. That we've gone down. At the same time. When the rubber meets the road. I simply have to say this. We don't know what to do. And I have a lot of friends.

With children with autism. And down syndrome. And all kinds of. Difficult situations. And they would say the same thing. There's not really a good answer.

Here on earth. To deal with these things. So what happens. When we do not know what to do. Well Jehoshaphat.

Gives us a pretty good idea. Of what to do in this situation. Here are three different people groups. The Ammonites. The Moabites. Who were.

You know. They were cousins. And you know. Brothers. They were. You know. Lot. They came from Lot. And so they were. They were related to each other. And then.

These Munites. Which are a group of nomadic people. That lived in Edom. So they were in turn. Edomites. At the same time. From Esau. And back in. In the Old Testament.

In Deuteronomy chapter 2. When. Moses. Was leading the people. To go to the promised land. And they were to pass. By certain territories.

They were not to attack. Certain places. And if you notice. In Deuteronomy 2. They were not to attack. The Moabites. They were not to attack. The Ammonites. And the Edomites.

And they were to go past. Those people. And. Why? Well. Because they are their brothers. They are. Related to them. And. And family.

And. We're not to go. Past them. And there are certain people. That they. Were to. Were to conquer. And. And God gave them. That direction. To do that. So.

Anyway. Joseph. That's about to do. About to remind God of that. But at the same time. He came to these people. He came to the people. Of. Of. Of. Of. Judah. Proclaimed this fast.

A national fast. A very serious. Situation. And they came to this temple. A temple. That Jehoshaphat. Had done a lot of work with.

And restored. And. And they came before. God. In this. In this great time. In this. Dire circumstance. And yet.

We see this. Nonetheless. As being. Really a rarity. In the people of Israel. In the people of Judah. To have. Them come before God.

When. This great attack. Was happening. I don't know if you remember. From the 1980s. Or 90s. I was a young. Boy then. But. They had a commercial. Just said.

Don't just stand there. Do something. And you would think. If. These people. If we had a. Big group of people. That were about to come. And attack us.

And they were. 20. 25 miles away. Like these guys were. Well. You know. You wouldn't just stand there. You'd do something. Well. They were doing something.

And we'll get to that. So. Proclaiming a fast. And they were there. As in verse 4. To seek help. From. The Lord.

So. Jehoshaphat came. And prayed. And he said something. That was wonderful. About God. Turning to the true God. Turning to who God is.

Who God truly is. He said that God is almighty. He is all powerful. It says in verse 6. Just saying. Lord God of our fathers.

Are you not. God in heaven. And that's true. He is God in heaven. He is. He is God on earth. He is. Of. The heavenlies. And even of. Of.

This place. Here on earth. And he rules over the kingdoms of heaven. And yet. He's also personal. At the same time. His hand is power and might. None can withstand him.

But then he also reminds God of something else. As well. That he brought a covenant. To his people. The people of Israel. And now the people of Judah.

He drove out the inhabitants. Of the land. Of Israel. As the Israelites went on to the promised land. And he gave it forever. To the descendants of Abraham.

And then. Calling Abraham his friend. And so. God is. Not only a God of. This great might. And power. But he's also personal. And he's also a God of relationship.

He's not only a God of. Celestial kingdoms. And celestial lands. But he's a God of this very earth. And the mundane. World that we live in. And he is a God that has.

In this particular situation. A people. A covenant. With the people. And here's Jehoshaphat. Reminding God. Keep the covenant.

So here's God. Being almighty. But he's also faithful. And here's just another reminder. Of how faithful he is. They have a covenant.

And then in verse 8. A sanctuary. That is built in his name. And the promise. That God brought. To Solomon. This is just a synopsis.

Of that in verse 9. It says. If disaster comes upon us. The sword. Judgment. Pestilence. Famine. We will stand before this house. And before you. For your name. Is in this house. And cry out to you.

In our affliction. And you will hear. And save. This was similar. To what Solomon prayed. And it's recorded. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 6. But then God answered that prayer. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 7.

And we know one of those verses. Very well. Verse 14. If my people. Who are called by my name. Shall humble themselves. And pray. Seek my face. Turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven. And forgive their sin.

And heal their land. And that is simply an answer. To what is going on here. If these attacks are going to come. And we turn to you Lord. And we turn. And we trust in you.

In these things. You will help us. You will be there. And God said that to them. What a great reminder to hear. So not only is God almighty.

And not only is God faithful. But He's also present. And in verse 10. Here's Jehoshaphat.

Just describing what's going on. These people of Ammon. And Moab. And Mount Seir. Which is in Edom. A mountain in Edom. But yet. He's reminding also. What happened.

Before that. We just talked about that. In Deuteronomy chapter 2. They were having to pass on. And yet. The people of Israel. Were willing to do that. Of course. It was commanded by God.

To do so. And they did so. And reminding of what. Is going on. And what God is. What God told them to do. And in verse 11.

It says. Behold. They reward us. These people reward us. By coming. To drive us out. Of. What? Of your. Possession. Which you have given to us.

As. An inheritance. To inherit. So here is God. Giving them this land. And he did give them that land. And here's God.

Dwelling in this place. And in his people. And so. Just a great reminder. Of. Who God is.

But also. A great reminder. Of. What God does. The fact that God. Gave them all of this. According to his will. And according. To his.

Plan. So God. Drove out. Some inhabitants. At one time. Some enemies. At one time. Could he do it again? Well. I think.

Jehoshaphat. Had an idea. Of that. Will you not. Execute. Judgment. On. Them. Our eyes are on you. Because this great horde.

We can't do anything. About it. We must turn to you. So this is a great God.

A faithful God. And if you notice. In verse 13. The people. Were just simply standing there. They were just simply standing there. And what were they doing? Well.

Verse 13. That's all they were doing. They were standing. Before the Lord. But just not just standing. But standing before the Lord. Waiting on him.

When we don't know what to do. We need to wait on the Lord. We need to wait on his plan. We need to wait on his. Timing. His purposes. But also there's other things.

According to this prayer. And according to this word. That need to be. In order to seek God. As our true refuge. In order to see him. As our true refuge. We must have a right relationship.

With him. As it says in verse 7. And following. Drive out all the inhabitants. Of the land. Before your people Israel. And gave it forever. To who?

To the descendants of Abraham. Your friend. Now that's another sermon. All together. Talk about Abraham. Being a friend. And what that even means.

But certainly. Did Abraham. Deserve that kind of. Relationship with the Lord. Absolutely not. It says in scripture. That Abraham believed in God.

Had faith in him. And was counted to him. As righteousness. And yet. Even in this new covenant. We have reconciliation.

2nd Corinthians chapter 5. Verse 17. Describes that reconciliation. If anyone is in Christ. He is a new creature.

The old. Has passed away. All things. Have become new. And the reconciliation. That Jesus Christ. Became sin.

He knew no sin. But he became sin. For us. That we might become. The righteousness. Of God in him. It is salvation. By grace. Through faith. Through that ministry.

Of reconciliation. And allows us. To be. Reconcilers. As well. With each other. It's a wonderful. Right relationship.

That we can have. With the Lord. Not only to have. A right relationship. With him. But also. A right character. And conduct. And as the Israelites. Did what God told them to do.

By passing through. Those lands. Even though. They could have easily. Conquered them. And. And. You know. Been involved with that.

At least. At least. They probably had the people. To do that. Nonetheless. That wasn't his will. And that's not what he. Told them. Instructed them to do. And commanded them to do. And so.

They obeyed the Lord. At that time. We are to have. The right character. And we are to. Seek God. In that. In that way. To. To learn from his.

True character. His true conduct. And. What he wants us to. Be. Like. We need to. As it says. In Romans 12. We need to.

Have a living sacrifice. We need to. Be a. Living sacrifice. Holy. And acceptable. To God. That is our. Reasonable. Service. We also.

Need to have. Complete. Dependence. On God. Through this whole thing. Through our lives. As well. When we do not. Know what to do. Even when we do.

Think. We know what to do. We need to be. Completely. Dependent. On the Lord. As well. Verse 12. We are powerless. Against this great horde.

That is coming. Against us. We don't know. What to do. All they can do. Is just seek. The Lord. Now you've probably.

Heard this before. But. If. You have a great horde. Over on one side. And you just have God. On this side. Who's the majority?

Who's the bigger one? Obviously. That's God. God. And so. That's just something. We need to understand. As well. And. Often times. We forget this. But when.

Anything comes. Whether it's. Sickness. Whether it's. A terrible. Relationship. Falling out. Whether it's. Tax problems. Or whatever it might be. We forget.

Way too often. To not turn to God. We forget. Way too often. To not. Understand. That God. Can take. Control. Of all these situations. That he is the creator.

He is. The sustainer. And he's the provider. And we need to understand. And remember. In all these things. That God is in control.

And then the. The last thing here. In verse 13. It says. All Judah. Stood before the Lord. Everyone. From the little ones. And wives. Their children.

And. We need to be united. As a church. As a body of Christ. In attitude. We need to be united. In action. And not just to seek the Lord.

And to. And to turn to him. Individually. But also together. And that's important for us. To understand as well. God has given us.

A gift. Or spiritual gifts. To be used. For. The body. And we are to do that. And we are to seek. His will for that.

For that measure. For that gift. As well. Now if you go on further. In the passage. You will find out. That God answered. The prayer. And he answered it.

In such a great way. And I will summarize. He used a. Levite. Just a regular old Levite. Named Jehaziel. To bring. God's word.

To the people. As they were standing there. And telling them what to do. And what were they to do? They were to stand there. And God was the one.

That attacked. God was the one. That fought. On their behalf. As these people. As his great horde. Was coming forward. God sent. Ambushes. On the way.

And. Well. Make a long story short. They. Work. They were destroyed. And.

What Israelite. Had to. Lift a finger. What Israelite. Had to. Go. On the attack. None of them did. It was God. That did.

The winning. It was God. That did the fighting. And it was God. That won that battle. Now this is just one example. Of course. And we.

But we. I think we can understand. And learn from this passage. Of scripture. That when. Great calamity happens. Once again. Who do we turn to?

We have a refuge. We have. A savior. We have. The one that is. Almighty. All. Powerful. And that is God.

And that is Christ. And we turn to him. And we turn. To no one else. But him. Back in the.

16th century. 1500s. Martin Luther. Lived in Germany. And did some. Wonderful things. What we call. The reformation today. Nailing the 95.

Thesis on the. Door of Wittenberg. Germany. Church in Wittenberg. Germany. And. Caused quite a firestorm. And of course. The people of.

That day. Especially the ones. That became. Protestant. That was a difficult. Time for them. Because. They were not. Living the way that. You know. The Catholics. In the church.

Of that time. The ruling church. Of that time. Wanted them to live. And a lot of them. Had to die. For their faith. And a lot of them. Had some very difficult. Life. At least here on this earth. Had to deal with some very dire.

Situations. And many still do. Of course. As we know. As we see around us. Through these maps. On the wall. But Martin Luther. Pinned a song.

A hymn. That we know pretty well today. That speaks pretty well. Of this idea. It says. A mighty fortress. Is our God. A bulwark.

Never failing. A stronghold. Never failing. Our helper. He. Amid the flood. Of mortal ills. Prevailing. For still.

Our ancient foe. Doth seek to work us well. His wrath. And power. Are great. And armed. With cruel hate. On earth. Is not.

His equal. And every other verse. Speaks of this. Great adversary. Satan. And then. Of one. Considerably.

More powerful. Infinitely. More powerful. And one little word. Shall fail him. Christ. Is our salvation.

Christ. Is our deliverer. And he knew no sin. But he became sin for us. Why? Well.

It's because we're worms. It's because we're depraved. And we greatly need. That salvation. That salvation. So let us turn to God in all things.

And as we turn to God. Let us teach others to turn to him. Let us teach others to understand what salvation is. As it says right there in Matthew chapter 28.

Verse 20. And we teach others to observe all the things. That Christ has commanded us to do. Part of our great commission.

We are to go. And we are to make disciples. Of all nations. So as we turn to him. Let's also turn to others. Let us. And tell them of the gospel as well.

Thank you.