Will God go before you?

There is a great story in 2 Chronicles 20 where King Jehoshaphat and all of Judah faced an overwhelming adversary. If you have read this story before you will remember how the king sent out the worshipers before the army which resulted in the enemies of Judah miraculously turning on each other until they were destroyed.

I was thinking about how often, during times of great difficulty, we expect God to do the same for us. We pray God will go before us and mightily destroy the enemy. I'll speak for myself and say many times I've wanted God to do that so I wouldn't have to step out myself and do my part.

We like the idea of God just taking care of things for us, but that's not God's way. The authors of these stories take great pains to show us a pattern of God calling humans to a place of obedience, repentance, and right-ness before God so they may see the salvation of the Lord. God will not do it for us, but he will do it with us!

Before this great victory, King Jehoshaphat "set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah" (2 Chron 20:3). Then all of Juda responded and gathered to fast and worship before the Lord. It was the response and the positioning of the people in obedience and worship that lead to this great deliverance.

Are you ready to set your face to seek the Lord? Are you willing to step out in obedience and hear the word of the Lord? Are you positioned to move forward with the Lord and see his mightily works in your life and in the lives of others? I struggle to answer these questions every day, but this is the deepest longing of my heart.

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