Singing, Standing, and Seeing You and I will face some type of problem in our life today. It might be the mosquito-sized trial that is easy to brush off, or it may be the monster-sized kind that sits on your chest trying to suffocate you. It may be ongoing, or it may be completely new to you. Whatever type the temptation may be, the most important question for you and me is: How does God want me to respond to the problem I am facing this day? Just as the same sunlight that melts butter into a pool of fat also bakes mud into brick, so the trials of life will expose your true character: Your test will either show that you are innocent and have a meek and lowly heart of obedience, or that you are just plain hard hearted and trying to hide yourself and some kind of disobedience from God. We all really need to care about properly responding to our tests, because you and I are only going to get so many before it will become obvious to all, including God, who we really are. In Psalms 50:14,15, we read one description of the proper response to to a test in life: “Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” The Psalmist reminds us that a thankful heart must come first and that is demonstrated by worshiping God and thanking Him for the abundance of His mercies towards us. Make sure that we are not covering up something in the deepest corner of our hearts – Get right with God: “Pay your vows to the Most High.” Then, we are to call upon the Lord and watch Him deliver us from our trial. We find His promised deliverance is always a magnificent performance, beautiful to behold. “This is the Lord’s Work, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” The end result is even more glory to God as we learn by personal experience the delicious taste of His great mercy to us! The proper response to life’s tests is recorded for us in 2 Chronicles 20, where we read of the great deliverance of good King Jehoshaphat who found himself and the Kingdom of Judah in deep trouble from the double-team of their distant cousins, the Moabites and Ammonites. Jehoshaphat responded the right way by calling out to God in humility and reverence so that the Kingdom of Judah would be delivered. The divine strategy from the Lord of Hosts was, “You 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; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.” (20:17.) Jehoshaphat is preparing for a physical fight, yet God tells him he wont have to fight. Remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. Salvation is His specialty, not ours, since we are the ones in hot water. He loves to rescue, but can only save us drowning souls when we stop thrashing around in the water with our own puny attempts at righteousness. But just because he is told not to fight, this does not mean there is nothing for the good King to do. First, they MUST worship God, which Jehoshapat and the Levites did promptly. It is the first thing Job did when he met calamity, and it was the first thing Paul and Silas did in the depths of the Philippian dungeon. Thanksgiving is STILL the first step today when facing a trial (Philippians 4:6), a very appropriate first move for the “beggarly” or “poor in spirit.” We can’t have a sense of entitlement as long as we remember that we don’t even deserve the least of God’s blessings. Open your eyes and see what God has done for us! When King Jehoshaphat and his army set themselves to face their enemies in war, what an amazing sight it was to see one side of the battle armed with praise to God! “For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Read the account of the battle in 2 Chronicles 20:20-25. While God’s army praised and worshipped Him, the Lord of Hosts was preparing the way for ambushes which would finish off what remained of the confederacy of Moab and Ammon. The enemies of God’s people had basically devoured themselves. How they turned on themselves is not described exactly, but it doesn’t matter since all that Judah had to do was the part God left for them. He fought for Judah that day. “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” (Galatians 5:15.) The proper response to our trials today will follow the same pattern. First be thankful to God always with a humble heart. “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” (Ephesians 5:18-20). Make sure you have “paid your vows” and that you are right with God – even the secret sins that only you and God know about. Then, watch God keep His promise and stand still and see His salvation. This continual faithful response to trials will reveal whether or not we are ready to give thanks to God forever in sweet heavenly praises that not even eternity can wear out!
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 03:32:34 +0000
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