From Enemies to Delivery Boys of Prosperity

Author: Yeap Chee Seng

Reference: 2 Chronicles 20





Have you been in a situation where failure is inevitable? You have done all you could. You search everywhere for a solution but nothing works. The attack is too powerful. You are too weak. God appears to be helpless.





If you do and you are a believer of Jesus Christ, then I have news for you.





1. God will deliver you.





2. Once he does, you are in for a great windfall.





IF you keep believing and don’t give up.





“How can you be so sure?”





The Bible says so. The Bible is the record of God’s love and commitment for us. If the Bible doesn’t work, God fails.





Can God fail?


No. This is impossible.





Therefore it must also be impossible for christians to be trapped in situation where failure is inevitable. There is always hope. There is always a way to overcome. I say this by the integrity of God’s Word.





2 Chronicles 20 is an example in which a major crisis of insurmountable proportion can be overcome with the simplest method. Not only that, once the crisis was over, prosperity flowed in.





King Jehoshaphat was confronted with a huge invasion force that he has no hope of defeating using the resources available to him.





1 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[a] declared war on Jehoshaphat.





2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[b] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.[c] They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)





3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.





4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.





2 Chronicles 20:1-4 (NLT)





Even the news itself caused fear in his heart but he did one right thing. He turned to the Lord. He knew the Lord has the answer to every problem. The Lord answered.





14 the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.





15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.





16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel.





17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”





2 Chronicles 20:14-17 (NLT)





What is he saying? Go out from your fortification, stand there and watch?





Isn’t that a risk? What if they attacked us? What if God’s plan doesn’t work?





All these are doubts arising from unbelief. If they allow it to consume their mind, they would not have obeyed God. Victory would not happen.





20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”





21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:


“Give thanks to the Lord;


his faithful love endures forever!”





22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.





23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other.





24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.





2 Chronicles 20:20-22 (NLT)





The people did obey. They were reminded to believe.





“Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”





Without believing, they would not have the courage to stand firm and be successful.





You may be facing a huge problem today. No matter how big your problem is, the first thing God wants you to do is to believe in him. You have to believe that he can and he will bring you out. Do whatever you can to strengthen your faith. You may choose to confess his Word, meditate on the scriptures, listening to faith messages or anything else you can think of. This is crucial because if you do not believe, you will not have the courage to stand firm and see your breakthrough.





They also sang a song.





“Give thanks to the Lord;


his faithful love endures forever!”





This song only has 2 contents, gratitude and love. This song is a form of confession. So, by singing this song, the people of God were making confessions. The confession of gratitude is a confirmation of faith because they were thanking God before they saw their answer while the confession of God’s faithful love provides a guarantee that God will deliver his promises.





Could this be something we must do when we face troubles in our lives?





1. We need to confess that God will bring us through and thank him in advance.





2. We need to confess his unfailing love as an assurance to our hearts.





Confessions will help to strengthen our faith in God. Only with strong faith, will we have the courage to obey God and do what he told us to do: Open the door, go out, face the enemies and see what God is doing.





The people of Judah had successfully used the song as their confession. This strengthened their faith and gave them courage. They went out and saw what God wanted them to see – their enemies defeated and dead. They saw only dead bodies. God kept his promise. The threat was gone. Is that all? No. God has another agenda.





25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,[e] and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all!





26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,[f] which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.





2 Chronicles 20:25-26 (NLT)





It was plunder time. For some reasons, the invaders took along valuable items with them in this attack. I am very sure they did not meant it for the people of Judah. It must be God’s plan all along. The enemies may have evil intention to kill and subdue God’s people but God has other plans. He used these enemies as delivery boys to piggy back prosperity to his people. As a result, the people of Judah spent 3 days to collect valuables. (I am sure they are not “spiritual” valuables.)





Just imagine, what if the people of Judah did not obey God and went out from the city? They would have missed the delivery of prosperity.





Could this be the same scenario you are facing right now?





You are facing the greatest battle in your life. The attack looks so big that you can’t see any hope in the natural to defeat it. However, God is working behind the scenes right now. He is using this attack to piggy back prosperity to you. Here is a principle you should remember:





Great victory comes from great battle.


Small victory comes from small battle.





IF you keep believing and don’t give up.





The greater the attack you face, the greater the victory you will enjoy and the more prosperity you will receive. I am sure, after the people of Judah spent 3 days collecting valuables, some would wished the invaders size to be double so that they can have another 3 days (total of 6 days) to collect valuables!





So, if you are a believer and are facing the greatest battle in your life right now, I wish to congratulate you. Your prosperity will be great IF you keep believing and don’t give up.





Do what the people of Judah did, seek the Lord, confess gratitude and his love, and see the victory he has fought for you. Be prepared for the hard work of collecting valuables for 3 days.





27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies.





28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the Lord.





29 When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them.





30 So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.





2 Chronicles 20:27-29 (NLT)





What happen after the battle? There was great peace. The glory of God was spread wide and far. God is glorified in your victories and prosperity. Do you want to glorify God? I certainly do



Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/spirituality-articles/from-enemies-to-delivery-boys-of-prosperity-282066.html
About the Author


Yeap Chee Seng is currently working as a resident engineer. He owns a blog at

http://cheee.wordpress.com



focusing on faith, deliverance and prosperity. He has also written a book entitled “Bible Verses On Prosperity” available in www.lulu.com.