Pastoral Reflection from Rev KI Macleod
Reflection for the Week of 29th March
“Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord, from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” 2 Chronicles Chapter 20v3-4
We want our journey through life to be as smooth and trouble free as possible. Unfortunately a life without its share of worries, troubles, problems and fears is virtually impossible to find. Jesus,before He left this world said to the disciples, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” God uses the troubles that come into our lives to achieve different things. Some people who have had no thought of God whatsoever, have found that troubles brought them to come to know personally the God of heaven and earth. God’s people down through the generations have, through their personal troubles, found that God is working in them. God uses hard providences to test us; to draw us closer to Himself; to wean us away from certain sins; to strengthen our faith: to be a means of help and encouragement to others-indeed there are many reasons.
In this Chapter we find King Jehoshaphat and all of Judah are in serious trouble as they are being threatened unexpectedly by a massive coalition of enemy nations that had come to fight against them. They realise that they are seriously outnumbered and are in dire straits. Now we have to remember that God over rules everything; and just as troubles may come at an individual level, so they sometimes come at a national and international level too, and that is what we have for Jehoshaphat and all of Judah. Poor Jehoshaphat. V4 states,”Jehoshaphat was afraid”-I suppose that’s putting it mildly. So what does Jehoshaphat do? V3 states, “Jehoshaphat set his face to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast.”
You’ll notice that Jehoshaphat began with himself. Before calling on others to seek the Lord, he made sure that he was seeking the Lord. That is incumbent on every religious leader, that before they tell people what God is asking them to do, they themselves are seeking to do what God requires. So Jehoshaphat by seeking the Lord is inspiring everyone to seek the Lord. The king must lead by example. Seeking the Lord is serious business. Some may think seeking the Lord is a wee prayer here and there, acknowledging God and reading a little of His Word. No it’s not. To seek the Lord you have to give your all to it. The great thing is that in seeking you will find. Urgent, genuine seeking will result in finding the Lord. The Lord gives His Word on that. If anyone reading this has never come to a personal faith in Jesus Christ, then seek and search for Him in His Word and by prayer,and you will find Him. Not you might find, but you will find. God promises that those who seek Him with all their heart will find Him.
Jehoshaphat showed just how wholeheartedly he was seeking the Lord by fasting and proclaiming a fast. To fast is showing that nothing is going to come in the way of seeking. Fasting involves more than denying ourselves food. It’s curbing the natural appetites in order to deny ourselves the normal things of life for a period,so that we humble ourselves before God. With a humble spirit we seek His mercy and forgiveness; His face and favour. This is what we should do. There is no need to tell others about it; just do this quietly yourself,even if it’s just for a short period in a day or an evening. Simply set aside a time where you give yourself to God-sincerely, humbly, urgently. We are in serious times, and we have to plead to the God of heaven and earth that He will hear our cry, forgive us personally and nationally and heal our land. Plead that in His wrath that He would remember mercy.
To help us come before God let us see how Judah went about things.
1. They acknowledged the Supremacy of God over all others. V6 ”Are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might so that none is able to withstand you.” That is always an important starting place in our prayers-the majesty, glory and rule of God over everyone and everything. We need to reflect on this before we seek anything for ourselves and give glory to God as we do so.
2. They reminded themselves, and the Lord, of His great and mighty deeds in the past. V7 “Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend.” We so often forget God’s goodness and mercy to us in the past;so it’s important that we reflect upon these things in our prayers. It encourages to ask God as He did for us in the past-so He would do for us in the present.
3. They reminded the Lord that He was their God. V7 “Our God.” God delights in the Covenant that He has made with His people, and He delights to be spoken to regarding that Covenant relationship. We must do this. God loves His people above everyone and everything else in this world. He keeps telling us that His people are His portion in this world. This enables us to go to Him in humble confidence and plead and pour out our hearts to Him.
4 They pleaded His promises v9 ”If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgement, PESTILENCE(PLAGUE) or famine we will stand before this house and before you—and cry out to you in our affliction and YOU WILL HEAR AND SAVE.” That’s what we must do as well. Cry out in this our great time of need as the plague threatens our land with deadly intent and ask that He will have mercy upon us. God alone can save us. Of course we are to follow all the guidelines of distancing and isolation that have rightly been put in place; we are massively indebted to all the NHS staff, many who have worked sacrificially endangering their own lives trying to save lives. We are indebted to every carer and helper and volunteer at this time of crisis-but our ultimate source of help is God. He rules over all.
That is why in v12 we read- “We are powerless against this great horde-We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” The wonderful thing is that God worked in an amazing way giving Jehoshaphat and the whole nation a resounding victory. God acknowledged their faith. He will do the same for us if we cry humbly by faith acknowledging our total dependence on Him. May God save us in our hour of need and bless everyone with safety, health and strength.
Love and prayers,
Kenny
