When you don’t know what to do
OPINION —
We were in our bed. My wife was crying. The excruciating pain of a herniated disc in her back was more than Dean could bear. Not knowing what else to do, I was kissing away her tears, trying to comfort her.
Through my own tears, my eyes focused on the wall near our bed the framed words crocheted by my mother: “Marriage – May there be such a oneness between you that when one weeps the other will taste salt.” I realized I was indeed tasting the salt of my dear wife’s tears. And it was something I did many times, when I didn’t know what to do, during our 68 years of marriage.
That was not an uncommon experience. Weak and flawed as we are, all of us have moments like that. Even kings are sometimes helpless. King Jehoshaphat, who ruled Judah for 25 years, had such a moment. It happened 850 years before Christ was born; you can read about it in Second Chronicles, chapter 20.
Though Jehoshaphat had an army of a million soldiers, one day he was advised that his army was outnumbered. Several enemy nations had banded together, and their vast army was coming to destroy Israel. Knowing he was outmanned, Jehoshaphat turned to God and called on the nation of Judah to seek God’s help.
Having gathered everyone together to pray for God’s help, the king stood and prayed before the people, concluding his prayer by saying, “O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.” When the king finished praying, a man named Jahaziel stood up, having been moved by the Spirit to speak.
Jahaziel addressed the king and the crowd and said, “Listen, don’t be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. The battle is not yours but God’s. And he will be with you!”
After he spoke, the king and all the people bowed with their faces to the ground and began worshiping the Lord. Some of the Levites began to praise the Lord with a very loud voice! The king was so encouraged that he appointed a choir to begin singing and praising God.
The choir went out before the army singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” As the choir began to sing, the Lord began to work and soon victory was theirs!
Yes, there are times when we don’t know what to do. But do not despair! We can study an incident like this in the life of King Jehoshaphat and find a helpful plan for those desperate days when we don’t know what to do. Here is such a plan:
- You turn to God and start praying.
The scriptures teach us there is power in prayer. For example, we read in the fourth chapter of Acts that after Peter and John had been released from jail, they met with fellow Christians and “they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” Doctor Luke says that “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Yes, God does hear and answer the prayers of his people! - You can turn to God and thank Him for using ordinary people to give us hope.
Jahaziel was an ordinary person. The only thing he did, so far as we know, was deliver a divine message to the king. But when God needed a man to do that, Jahaziel stood up and did it. And surely today God often needs ordinary Christians who will stand up and speak words of hope from God.
Rose was an ordinary disciple, a poor woman who lived in Albania, that small European country that borders on Greece. Rose and her husband opened their home to the poor and hungry. After Rose’s husband died, the family plunged into poverty. But Rose still found a way to give food to the hungry and destitute.
One of Rose’s daughters was greatly influenced by her mother’s example of sacrificial love. This daughter, Agnes, grew up to become an advocate for the poor, devoting her life to caring for the sick and dying. Agnes was none other than Mother Teresa, whose ordinary mother inspired her to serve Jesus.
You can be one of those ordinary disciples God can use to help people who don’t know what to do. So, look for times when you can stand up like Jahaziel did, or serve Jesus like Rose did. - You can turn to God and begin singing and praising him!
God often works miracles when his people begin singing and praising him during hard times. Look for example at Paul & Silas (Acts 16). They had been stripped and beaten, severely flogged and thrown in prison. Their feet were fastened in stocks. But “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,” when suddenly “a violent earthquake” shook the prison doors open, and Paul and Silas were soon free to go.
When I am troubled, I don’t pray for an earthquake, but I have found it helpful to start singing. These three songs God often uses to set me free from distress: “Jesus is all the world to me,” “There is a balm in Gilead” and “I Must Tell Jesus.” - You can turn to God and fix your eyes upon Jesus.
We have a great advantage over King Jehoshaphat. We can turn our eyes upon Jesus “and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace”! Jesus alone can give us victory over sin and trouble.
King Jehoshaphat had the choir go before the army singing: “Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love endures forever.” We can add Jesus and sing: “Give thanks to the Lord Jesus, for His love endures forever.”
Open your heart and invite Jesus to live there, rule there, and help you in all circumstances to say, when you don’t know what to do, my eyes are fixed on you Jesus, for you alone can help me face the distressing circumstances of my life.
