Stand Still: Gospel Today Devotional - 24th August, 2023

 

Blessed be the name of the Lord who alone has been our help and strength. We cannot but seek to appreciate his name at all times even as we begin to round off this series on scriptural instruction. God be praised for his unending faithfulness. The month of August has been a month of instructions as we have come to see several instructions from scripture and our minds have been enlightened I believe, and that from henceforth, we will begin and continue to live in light of these instructions. Having considered several instructions, we still cannot deny the fact that we are not done yet and that God still seeks to reveal to us through his word more of his instructions. Praise God!

Suppose you happen to find yourself in the military for example where it is believed that you should not at any point in time trivialise fighting with an enemy and then a war comes up and you all were asked to prepare. It may be that this war is to be fought against one of the most notorious terrorist group in the country who has long before that time of war been a threat to the country and the military and just when you're about to go, someone comes with this news. What news you may want to ask, right? Well, the news that you may not have to fight in that battle because the battle is not yours and it has been won already even before you go to fight. And that there's really no need to fight? Be honest, how will that make you feel?

Will you believe even a word that comes out from such a person? And if you were to ponder on the statement, will you even think to obey considering the fact that you're a trained soldier who shouldn't even look at the enemy twice before shooting? What reasonable person will stand gazing at his enemy shooting at him without pulling the trigger? This will lead us to our lesson for today and we shall be considering another instruction from the Lord?

"Ye shall not need to fight in this battle : set yourselves, stand ye still , and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you". (2 Chronicles 20:17).

This text was coined from a chapter that saw the despair, and worry of the people of Judah. About three nations had come together to fight against Judah and this made Jehoshaphat the king of Judah very afraid. The thing is this, if you do not have enough resources to fight just one nation, how will you then win against a combined force of three, maybe this was the reason the king had to worry that much. It still did not deny the fact that they would soon have to face three nations and they really had no chance of wining on their own. The king not knowing what to do other than to call on God declared a fast in the land and really, everyone had to pray.

It was in the course of the prayer, after Jehoshaphat had made prayers unto the Lord that the Spirit of the Lord came upon one named Jahaziel even as the children of Judah assembled together to pray and he began to speak forth the thing inspired by the Spirit of God. In other words, he began to prophesy. It was then the Lord by his Spirit through Jahaziel told Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah not to be afraid, why? Because the battle was not theirs but God's meaning that God had taken up their fight and was going to fight for them (vs 15). This is indeed comforting, isn't it?

The anchor text for today's lesson which is verse 17 was also one of the things the God spoke to the people of Judah by his Spirit through Jahaziel saying that they would need not to fight in the battle, only to stand still and watch the Lord fight for them. God's instruction to them was to 'stand ye still' which meant to do nothing, fight no one, just stand and watch for the battle was already won. If this had been in the military like it was stated in our example earlier on, it would have been difficult to obey, right? But not when God instructs to do so and not when you're sure he is the one speaking. The people of Judah obeyed as they were instructed and they were victorious. They didn't have to fight, all they did was sing praises to God. Glory to God.

But how can one win without fighting? It's something God alone can do such that when he fights for you, you do not have to fight for yourself. What contentions are you facing? What challenges are there at the moment in your family, marriage, business, ministry, academic, career. God says to stand still, and watch him fight for you. Will you obey this instruction?

 

Thought for the Day

The battle is not yours but God's. The thing you have to do as he has instructed is to stand and watch while he fights for you and secures your victory in him.

Gospel Today is a comforting, exhorting, edifying devotional published by the Delightsome Land Christian Ministry. For questions, enquiries and testimonies, please call or WhatsApp: 08174915361, 08161655758 or send an email to [email protected].