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Available Here This Battle is Not Yours 1 Dr. Fredricc Gerard Brock “This Battle is Not Yours” 2 Chronicles 20:13-17 NLT Prior to August 24, 2018, eight-year boxing veteran Curtis Harper was far from a household name. He held a lackluster boxing record of thirteen wins and six losses and has lost 3 of his last 4 fights. The high point of Harper's career came back on March 2015, when he went eight rounds against Chris Arreola. However, after walking out of a boxing ring, just seconds after the bell rang, during a scheduled match against boxing champion, Efe Ajagba, millions of people around the world knew his name. And to be clear, Curtis Harper did not leave the ring during this nationally televised fight out of fear of his opponent. No. It was discovered later that Harper decided to calmly excuse himself from the fight due to an ongoing contract dispute with the organizers of the match. Harper simply came to the realization that this battle was not his to fight. And, can I be honest? There are times when life can seem like one big fight: - As soon as we accomplish something here comes adversity. - As soon as we are blessed here comes some sort of burden. - As we embrace the champion in us, here comes an unimaginable challenge. And, as we wipe the tears from your eyes; as we talk ourselves down from a spiritual ledge, the relevant question that looms in our conscience is, “Do we have the faith to believe that God can win this fight without us?” By the end of this sermon I want you to know that when you are on the Lord’s side, you are always fighting a fixed fight. Such is the emphasis in our biblical context for consideration found in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Thirty-five year old King Jehoshaphat, the fourth king of Judah under the divided monarchy, son of King Asa, has returned home from an ill-advised military campaign alongside © 2020 Dr. Fredricc Brock Published with permission for Baptists Preaching column on www.baptiststandard.com This Battle is Not Yours 2 Ahab (2 Chron. 18). And after being rebuked by the prophet Jehu in 2 Chronicles 19:1-3, Jehoshaphat remains committed the Lord. 2 Chronicles 19:4-11 inform us that he appointed judges to administer the Old Testament law code throughout Judah, and appoints the Levites, members of the Temple choir, to assist with making sure justice is served. However, in chapter 20, without a warning, without being prompted, prodded, or provoked, a coalition of hostile nations, the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites join together…determined to attack the people of Judah. It’s believed that Jahaziel wrote Psalm 83 recounting this event. And isn’t that like some of our enemies? Folks that don’t even generally like one another, will band together to come for you. BUT Jehoshaphat, being the son of a worshipper in King Asa, and a God-fearer himself, though terrified, calls the people to a fast in 2 Chronicles 20:4 to seek the Lord’s guidance. And, it’s a lot of wisdom in Jehoshaphat’s response. Before we Vaseline our face to jump to war with our hands, we need to Vaseline our knees to seek God’s heart through prayer. And the Bible doesn’t say how long they prayed. However, God did provide an answer. As they often would do as a community when they urgently needed an answer from God, all the men of Judah stood with their little ones, wives, and children before the Ark of the Lord, representative of God’s presence. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon a Temple choir member, a Levite and prophet by the name of Jahaziel. To note, Jahaziel’s name meant “Beheld of God.” His father’s name meant “God has remembered.” His grandfather’s name meant “God has built.” His great- grandfather’s name meant “Carried away of God.” And his great-great grandfather’s name meant “Gift of God.” Jahaziel apparently came from a family who knew something about what God can do. And it’s through this prophet, through this mouthpiece that God provides an answer for the people to let them know that this battle is not theirs. © 2020 Dr. Fredricc Brock Published with permission for Baptists Preaching column on www.baptiststandard.com This Battle is Not Yours 3 MOVEMENT #1 The first thing that this text is tailored to teach us is that, when we know that the battle is not ours, we can exercise faith over fear. And beloved, in these times that we are living in, we’ve got to get to a place where we fully trust our unknown future to our known God. You must understand that this season of your life is too crucial for you allow your thoughts to take you out of the fight before the fight begins. Watch the text, in verse 15, Jahaziel addresses the people of Judah, Jerusalem, and the King and says, “This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged…” Now understand something about fear and discouragement in the Hebrew sense. To “fear” literally means to revere that which you are afraid of, and to be “discouraged” or “dismayed” means to be broken down by violence or confusion. God, through the prophet Jahaziel, was saying, and is saying, “Don’t let fear take my place. When you’re facing the battle of lifetime, don’t make discouragement your ‘little g’ god.” And understand that anything that you give more time and energy to than God can become your ‘god.’ This was eseentially a public service announcement that had theological and political implications. Jahaziel was saying, “I know you are being unjustly attacked without prompting or provocation, but you still have the responsibility as the people of God to respond in a way that indicates you are choosing to exercise fear over faith.” You see, the common denominator between fear an discouragement is faith. Fear and discouragement involves some level of belief about perceived reality. The difference is that faith enables us to conceive, to see, an alternative reality. In the words of AW Tozer, “We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen.” This moment had generational implications. As these men and women stood there with their families, their response to fear and discouragement would teach their children and their children’s children how to respond to it. And we’d be the better if we understood that some of the long-standing issues within our families are not the result of a generational curse. Because we’ve been blood washed. © 2020 Dr. Fredricc Brock Published with permission for Baptists Preaching column on www.baptiststandard.com This Battle is Not Yours 4 We are blessed beyond the curse. But, sometimes our family issues are the result of having mishandled some past situations. And we’ve got to be careful here, because while we, as adults, are mishandling what to us is simply a moment of confusion, our children are watching. And moment of confusion to us is to our children a classroom, where they are watching and learning vicariously, through us, how to handle moments of fear and discouragement. And because some of us adults once were those children, there are ways that we have maladapted, and we’ve spent years trying to unlearn what we’ve learned. Preacher, what are you saying? I’m saying that it is our responsibility to learn healthy wholesome ways of responding to times of fear and discouragement. The battle can be and will be won if you exercise faith over fear. MOVEMENT 2: Jahaziel does not stop with encouraging us that we must exercise our faith over fear. Jahaziel also notes that we’ve got to be positioned and prepared for a proper perspective. In other words, as you face the battles of life, you’ve got to situate yourself to see the salvation of the Lord. I’m in the text. Look at verse 16. The Bible says, “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.” This geographical point was seven miles north from En-gedi, where the opposing forces were said to be located in verse 1. The area was a stretch of flat country extending from the Dead Sea to Tekoa. It was a flat table land without mountain ridges are valleys where they would have been able to clearly see their enemies approaching. God, through Jahaziel, was saying, “I want you to get to place where you can clearly see what I’m about to do.” Why is this important to note? Because, if God fights this battle for them, but they are out of position and can’t see it, they will have been delivered but missed the opportunity for development. You see, it’s not just the arrival at the destination that develops you, but more so © 2020 Dr. Fredricc Brock Published with permission for Baptists Preaching column on www.baptiststandard.com This Battle is Not Yours 5 the experience of the journey. Think about it. It’s the struggle on the way to achievement, the facing of our foes that grows up: • It’s the going through school, not just walking the stage that develops you. • It’s the raising of kids, not just getting them out the house that develops you. • It’s the ups and downs, mountain tops and valleys, high places and low places that matures you, not just the accolades, medals, awards, and achievements.
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