Haven't Got A Clue

Day three hundred thirteen

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." ~Socrates

2 Chronicles 20:12-15

Chapter 20 finds Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah facing a battle with a large army of Ammonites, Moabites, and others.  They decide to fast and pray to seek advice from God.  I didn't think much about this until I came to verse 12:

"O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee."

In other words, we're in trouble, and we have no clue what to do, but we are looking to you for the answer!  Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had no clue how to react?  I think it is safe to say that we have all experienced this or will experience this in our lifetime. There are many times in life when we will find ourselves without a clue, that isn't a sign of weakness…it is just a fact of life!  So what do you do when you haven't got a clue?

Jehoshaphat becomes a great example for us.  When we find ourselves in this place, we must look to the Lord for what to do.  When we bring our requests before Him and ask for guidance, He will put things in the proper perspective.

We don't need to sit around making guesses.  I think the Lord makes it clear that when it comes to our lives, we need to have clear direction.

"Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof..." (Prov 25:8)

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  (Prov 3:5-6)

Trust in the Lord

 It all begins with FAITH.  Trust = Faith.  "Trust in the Lord" occurs 152 times in the Old Testament.  Do you think God was trying to tell them something?

Lean not unto thine own understanding 

Human understanding is limited and often faulty.  You can be well educated and still miss the truth. 

God tells us "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16).  The scriptures tell us what is right, what is not right, how to be right, and how to keep right. The key to understanding them is the "inspiration" part and that comes from a source outside of us.  That understanding comes from having the Spirit with you.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him

God is at work in all events in our lives:

"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18)

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)

We need to see God's hand in everything; this will remove anxiety and increase our joy. It will make us a positive praising person.  It is when we acknowledge God in the events of our lives that we are walking in faith.

He shall direct they paths

This is what we are looking for… direction from the Lord.  He does this when we learn to trust Him and not ourselves. He will direct our paths.  He will give us the instructions we need to make the right choices. We don't have to guess at what we should do…all we need to do is trust Him.

I know this all sounds too simple.  You might think there has got to be more to this.  But here is the beauty of it, it really is this simple.  God made things simple for us and it all starts with trusting Him.

So what did Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah learn from their experience of trusting the Lord?  They learned that there are times when God asks His people to go out and swing their swords and there are times when the battles are His to fight. There are some battles that are just too big for us.  Perhaps it’s a person who hates us and we can’t do a thing about it or maybe it’s some dream we have that is simply beyond our ability. 

We have to understand that there will be battles that God wants us to trust Him with, but then go out and fight too. Not every battle will be won like this one.   I think an example of this situation would be an unemployed person that says, “Well I’m just trusting the Lord” but they aren't actively looking.  God wants you to trust Him, but He also wants you to go out and look for a job. 

Then there are other battles that we can handle, but we shouldn’t.  I think these are the most difficult to figure out.  This has been one of my biggest parenting challenges, knowing when to help and when to sit back and let the consequences follow. I could step in and fix the situation, but is that really what I'm supposed to do or am I supposed to be there to pick up the pieces?   

However we are to respond to the challenges in our lives, one thing is clear, when we haven't got a clue we are to respond by trusting God.