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*Their Eyes Were Watching God*
*New Hope** Baptist Church*
*April 17, 2005*
* *
*Text:  2 Chronicles 20:1-12*
 
 
*Introduction: *(Subject-What do you do when in a stratosphere of stress or in the face of fear?)
 
    Stress is not an emotion that is often sought after.
Stress is pressure, strain and anxiety.
It can be bought on by constant worry, nervous tension and trauma.
Stress is when a person is concerned, ill at ease or their spirit is disquieted.
But one of the main triggers of stress, of pressure, anxiety and tension is fear.
Terror, dread; fright; panic; alarm; trepidation and apprehension all describe some form of fear.
When one is fearful, one is afraid; scared, even terrified.
Fear brings a person to astounding revelations and confessions.
Nothing can introduce a person to their real self and true feelings better than fear.
The question is what to do with fear?  *What do you do in the face of fear?*  Fear will elicit some response, some action, or a certain decision.
Thus we find the main character in our text this morning at the point of decision in the face of fear, brought on by the pressure and nervous tension of the oncoming attack of a mighty army.
*Background:*
    Jehoshaphat was the son and successor to king Asa as king of Judah.
He was 35 years old when he became king, and he reigned 25 years.
He took it upon himself history has it, to cleanse the land of idolatry.
He sent out priests and Levites in the land to instruct the people in the law of God.
He enjoyed a great measure of peace and prosperity, being one of the best, most pious and prosperous kings of Judah since Solomon.
He was a zealous follower of the commandments of God and he tried to put down the high places on which the people of Judah burnt incense.
He received tributes from the Philistines and Arabians, and he kept a large standing army.
Even though he strengthened himself against Israel, he eventually became an ally with Ahab.
This was a great mistake, because it brought disgrace to him and disaster on his kingdom.
Sometimes before the end of his reign, he encountered the most notable event of his reign.
The Moabites formed a great confederacy with the surrounding nations and came against Jehoshaphat.
These allied forces, the Moabites, Ammonites, and the Meunites, were encamped at Engedi.
This was a great multitude.
They knew that Jehoshaphat kept a great and mighty army ready, so they had to be great in number to believe that they would conquer this mighty and feared king.
They were great in numbers and great in their boasting.
The word used here as multitude in the original language means to roar, be loud and boasting and an abundance in numbers.
Have you ever noticed that when the enemy comes against you, the more they are in numbers or the smaller they think you are, the louder they get?
Have you ever been faced with a bully by the flagpole after school?
Remember how the crowd quickly formed?
Remember how the more people gathered around the louder the bully got and the more the bully promised to do to you?
If you’ve ever been in that situation, do you remember how you felt?
I do.
How you felt alone?
Unsure of yourself and whether you showed it or not, you were fearful?
Even though my brother taught me to hit first when I saw the whites of their eyes, I was still fearful until that first lick passed.
That’s what Jehoshaphat felt when the intelligence report of the impending attack was given to him.
The Bible says that Jehoshaphat was afraid, terrified.
But Jehoshaphat did not let fear stifle him.
How do I know this?
Because in verse 3 the Bible says that he was afraid *and* – and, the little conjunction that ties two things together tells me that he was both afraid and something else at the same time.
You see, when you are faced with this type of fear, this type of terror, this type of dread, many things can go through your mind in a matter of minutes, even seconds.
You’ve heard people who have been faced with life threatening situations say that their whole lives passed before their eyes?
This is what happened to Jehoshaphat.
As soon as the fear hit, his mind went into action and gathered some information that led him to take a decisive action.
He informed the people, called for a national fast, but Jehoshaphat also sought God.
Let me break this down for you by unlocking the truths from this passage that are necessary to face in order to reach the same decision as Jehoshaphat.
There were three truths that Jehoshaphat acknowledged that prompted his decision.
*Body:*
First, Jehoshaphat *realized his position*: He was afraid, he was terrified.
He was astounded at the brevity of this army that would dare to come against him and his mighty fortress.
Many of the leaders of these armies were former allies with him.
Forgive my vernacular, but everybody that pats your back ain’t your friend.
People that you think you know are sometimes just pretenders.
Their roar, their boasting and their abundant numbers gripped his very soul into terror.
It’s bad enough when your known enemies come at you, but when people you thought had your back join them, you just might feel frightened.
Had they not heard of his prowess ness?
How dare they not fear his much experience?
He had been held in high regard by the surrounding nations, now they join forces together against him?
It can be a frightening thing when your friends turn into your worse nightmare.
Can I be real for a moment?
A long time friend who you often shared secrets tells and distorts the truth; persons fueled by jealousy, envy, greed, and covetousness; someone who has been welcome to dip into your pot in your kitchen has been dipping with your spouse; or a buddy at school values association with the popular kids more than your friendship and accomplishes this at your expense; any of these people can cause great concern when they turn on you.
Jehoshaphat was afraid but he was not too proud to admit it.
He was afraid but he knew what to do about it.
He took his fear to God.
He gathered the people of Judah around him and instructed them to seek the Lord in the face of fear.
He did not hide behind a wall of false faith, rather he told his people, those he led, y’all need to pray.
This situation is bigger than we are.
He admitted that he needed outside resources, unlike the little boy in the sand box.
The story is told of a little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox.
In the process of creating roads and tunnels for his toy cars, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox.
The boy dug around the rock and dislodged it from the dirt.
He pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox using his feet.
This was a very large rock, and when he got it to the edge of the sandbox, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall.
Determined, he pushed, shoved and pried but every time he thought he had made progress the rock fell back into the sandbox, until he burst into tears of frustration.
All this time the boy’s father watched from the living room window.
At the moment the tear fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox.
It was his father.
Gently but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength you had available?”
Defeated the boy sobbed, “I did, daddy, I did.
I used all the strength I Had!”  “No, son,” corrected the father kindly.
You didn’t use all the strength you had.
You didn’t ask me.”
Then the father reached down, picked up the rock and removed it from the sandbox.
That’s what Jeohshaphat did.
In the face of fear, he sought the strength of his father, and his Father removed the rock for him!
Jehoshaphat *acknowledged his limitations*.
As he prayed to God he acknowledged that he was powerless against his enemy.
The Bible says that a wise man will count the cost before beginning to build his house.
Jehoshaphat counted the cost and determined that he could not pay the price.
There is an old saying that “you can’t fight city hall”.
There are just some situations that you just can’t handle.
You can’t make your unsaved spouse come to Jesus and you can’t live with him or her in peace on your own accord.
You can’t talk a wayward child that your have ignored for many years into turning around by yourself.
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