2 Chronicles 20: Invasion
Sunday, September 8, 2024
A Favorite from September 24, 2009.
There are so many ways to invade, so many ways to be invaded. None of us is impervious to others, no matter how thick or high we build walls. And once we are pierced, once we lose what we believe to be our identity or our footing, we will need both a strong foundation to stand and recovery strategies. Jehoshaphat today shows us what to do when even what is rightfully ours is taken away or ruined.
They rose early in the morning . . .
Oh how many times do I wish that my day did not begin before the sun rises; yet this early rising gives me the quiet edge I need to pray and reflect . . . and to begin well.
They went out into the wilderness . . .
Oh how I wish that I were not so often alone with such little sustenance; yet this leaving behind of all comfort gives me the proper feeling of dependence on God . . . a trusting child before a loving parent.
Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established . . .
Countless times do I pray the Creed – I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth . . .; yet still I need the encouragement from God to trust God’s plan.
Believe his prophets . . .
Countless times do we hear prophetic words and want to turn away from them because they call us to a place of discomfort; yet we follow for we know that there is no other Way to the eternal.
Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever . . .
Endlessly do we praise God for his careful providence in healing our willful ways and waywardness.
And the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around . . .
Endlessly do we shelter from the violent storm beneath the altar of sacrifice for our God and after the violence has passed we rise again to find that we have weathered the invasion, and that we are saved.
Image from: https://www.pinterest.com/normacook/jehoshaphat/
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