Confidence in God

Our nation is facing some difficult issues, from the threat of Islam to the growing national debt; America is at a crossroads in history. In the fifty years that I’ve been paying attention to our nation’s history and current events, truly “these are the times that try men’s souls.”

We should always turn to God and His word to determine the appropriate actions to take when facing untested waters. The Old Testament gives us a great example of a nation and its king facing a truly dangerous moment and the Biblical solution to a problem.

King Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah. He was a godly man and led his nation to revival. One day the king gets word that his nation was about to be invaded by three allied armies and that certain defeat seemed imminent. The Bible tells us that the king responded in a way that would be totally unacceptable to many Americans today:

“And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 20:3-4)

Could you imagine the outcry from the atheists and God-haters if our president was to do what King Jehoshaphat did? I can already hear the screams of violations of separation of church and state and other nonsensical drivel. Would to God such an outcry be heard across America!

What Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah did was place their confidence in God. They did not seek a quick alliance with another nation or rely on their own military, they sought God and acknowledge their weakness before Him:

“O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)

Many of you are no doubt facing your own personal battle today. There is uncertainty in your near future and your present situation seems hopeless. Sleep is hard to come by and peace of mind is a distant remembrance. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then understand what David understood and experienced:

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” (Psalm 3:5-6)

Brother David, that is always so easy to say when you’re not in the storm, but in the midst of my own personal hurricane, it’s hard to see light at the end of the tunnel. Yes it is easy to say something, much more difficult to believe in it. I believe in the very core of my soul that God’s promise that He will never leave us or forsake us because He has proven it in my own life. I do not trust in my own strength because of have proof of the power of God through Jesus Christ that could fill hundreds of pages. I can confidently proclaim what David wrote:

“Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:6-7)

Are you the Lord’s anointed? Have you been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps you think God does not or will not answer your prayer because you’ve prayed in the past and never got the answer for which you were looking?

My first question would be: “Have you given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He your personal Lord and Savior?” Without Christ you have no one in heaven to plead your case before God:

“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24)

If you answered yes, and you have unconfessed and unrepentant sin in your life, then know that God will not answer your prayers.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66:18)

Dear friend, no matter what you are facing today, do so with the full confidence in God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our nation’s two Great Awakenings began with just a few people.

The third one could begin with you and me.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2015 David Jeffers

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