When God Gives You More Than You Can Handle (6/23/19)

ATTN: The title assumes that God will at times give us more than we can handle. “But I thought God will never give us more than we can handle?” Well, if that were so – if we can handle whatever trouble comes our way on our own – why do we need God? Rather, God will at times throw us in a loop that we can’t get out of so that we will reach out to Him and depend on Him. Why? Because the purpose of life is not our comfort and peace. But it’s knowing God and loving Him as the greatest Treasure. And hardships we cannot handle will have us turn to God to handle it. And in turn, we will have a greater knowledge and love for God, which is the goal. 

ILL:It’s like a child who is playing in a sand box by himself and he sees a big rock in the middle of that box. And so he tries to move this rock out of the box by rolling it, but he is unable. Frustrated, he cries and comes into the house looking for his dad. The dad says, “what’s the matter?” and the child says, “well, I can’t get rid of the rock in the sand box so I can play in it.” The dad says, “I know. I’ve been watching you.” The child says, “then why didn’t you come and help me?” and the dad replies, “because I needed you to know that there are some things that you can’t handle by yourself and I needed you to learn to trust me by coming to me.”

Today, through an Old Testament king, we will see how this is played out. 

BACKGROUND (2 Chronicles 20): Jehoshaphat was a king of Judah in the long line of kings. If you know the history of Israel, after King Solomon, king David’s son, the nation Israel was divided into two – the northern kingdom commonly referred to as Israel or Ephraim and the southern kingdom almost always referred to as Judah. King Jehoshaphat was one of the kings of Judah, and he was a good one who was pleasing in God’s sight. The kings of Israel and Judah are judged by God as either “those who did right in the sight of God” or “those who did evil in the sight of God,” and Jehoshaphat was a good one. 

But we know that just because God approves of you doesn’t mean that you are not going to have trouble. As a matter of fact, we’ve been saying that if you are a child of God, God will bring you trouble for your own good. That’s exactly what God does for king Jehoshaphat. 

Vv. 1-2 After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). 

An invasion is coming. And these nations are more powerful than the nation of Judah. If you grew up in the U.S., then you never had to worry about being invaded by a foreign nation, but I grew up in South Korea where we constantly had to worry about being invaded by the North. When I was in elementary school, we were given sticks and trained to pretend that they were bayonets and learn how to stab the north Korena communists with them! 

The Nation Judah is facing this crisis. What does the king do? Gather up his cabinet members to plan? Muster up an army to defend his nation? Or run and hide? None of these

1. 3 3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

He calls for a prayer meeting! How unpractical is that? The enemy is knocking at the door, and they are about to be overran by them, and rather than gathering up his own army, strategizing, and then maybe allying himself with a powerful neighboring nation, he calls for a fast and holds a nation-wide prayer meeting! What does this show? His faith in a god who is stronger than his enemy. He knew he couldn’t move the rock, and so he calls on his daddy. 

But before that, notice the first thing the Bible says is, “Then Jehoshaphat was afraid…” In other words, this king didn’t pretend like he had everything under control. He was admitting his own weakness here. The very fact that he’s holding a prayer meeting as a first response is admitting that he’s powerless to handle the situation. That should be our first reaction when faced with a hardship. 

Lesson 1: Admit we are weak. Don’t pretend like everything is going fine when it is not! A godly person is not someone who seems to have it all together – that he is so godly that he doesn’t have a single problem in his life and no struggles? No! He is full of problems. And he gets afraid. But he knows who to turn to. That is what we see king Jehoshaphat doing.

– I want our church to be transparent and authentic like this. Stop pretending like you have everything handled and everything is going fine when it is not. Now, please, if everything is going fine, don’t pretend like something is wrong. That would be dishonest also. But if I know human condition, I know there are things that you are troubled by, your faith is challenged, and you are desperate for help. Admit it. Confide in someone about it.  Let us admit our vulnerability to our spouse, to our trust church friends. The world thinks being strong is being independent and self-reliant, but to God, it’s turning to Him, the strongest one in the universe.

 

1. 5-7 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 

How does this godly king pray in the midst of trouble? He does so by first reminding himself of what God has done in the past. Jehoshaphat wants to put His trust in God in this situation. But how can he? Well, how is trust built? When you observe that the person acts consistently over many years! Therefore, Jehoshaphat is remembering how God had worked in the past so faithfully and consistently, and therefore, He can be trusted to work the same way in the future also. That is my definition of faith by the way. Faith is not “just believe because the bible said so.” But faith is based upon what God has done in the past, trusting Him for the unknown future. (It is evidence based) 

And that is what Jehoshaphat is doing. To muster up faith in God, he’s remembering what God has done in the past. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 

Notice that Jehoshaphat is not referring to what God has done in the past for him as an individual. But what God has done for His people in general as recorded in the history book called the Bible. That’s why it pays to know the Bible. When you are in trouble, if you know the Bible, you can point to a certain similar situation and pray, “God, you have helped Ruth when she had no chance of ever marrying again- being a gentile widow in a foreign land. But you have provided for her and if so, you can provide for me!” 

Lesson 2: Pray. (1. Admit your weakness, and then pray with faith) How? By reminding yourself of how God delivered someone in a similar situation as recorded in the Bible. 

 

1. 8-9, 12 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’… 12 For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

Now, Jehoshaphat is claiming God’s promise. He’s saying, “Well, God, remember what you promised before? You said if we are facing a hardship, but if we will come to you and pray before this temple, you will listen?” Smart! God always does what He said he will do. ILL: Even though I am evil, when my children come up to me and say, “Daddy, remember you promised that you will buy us ice cream if we do our chores?,” even though it’s inconvenient for me at the time, just because I promised, I will say, “Ok, let’s go girls. McDonald’s or Wendy’s?” (I’m cheap!) 

Lesson 3: Trust a promise made by God. (1. Admit your weakness. 2. Pray with Faith)

 

We will skip down to v. 13 and find out how God responds to this prayer of Jehoshaphat. 

1. 13 Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 14 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 

Interestingly, the answer does not come directly to king Jehoshaphat. It comes through a prophet who spoke on behalf of God the word of God. And the word is that of reassurance and instruction. 

Lesson 4: We must have the word of God near. God will primarily speak to us through His word and therefore, if we are to hear His voice, we must have it nearby. Come to worship service where we faithfully preach the word of God. Don’t think, “I will go if the stars align.” But rather, “I will make it a default. Only in extenuating circumstances, I will not go.”  You will be surprised how often God speaks to the very issue you are going through that after a while, you can’t just say it’s coincidence. Also, speak to and listen to one another. I can’t tell you how often a brother or a sister of mine is used to speak the word of god into my life and that person had no idea that that’s exactly what I needed to hear at the time! One more, find a good podcast of sermons. Let them speak life into you literally. Matt Chandler. Francis Chan. John Piper. Tim Keller. Martyn Lloyd Jones are all solid biblical teachers you can listen to daily. Have the word of God near and present. 

1. 16-17 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”

Lesson 5: Act! We must do what God convicts us to do. Sometimes, it feels like we are jumping off the cliff without a parachute but only God to catch us. Imagine how scary it must’ve been for Jehoshaphat to go against the enemy and stand in front of them when he knows his army is not as strong. But really the only way our faith will grow is if we take a risk on doing what God said and see it come true exactly the way God said it. 

ILL: When we first decided to go on a mission trip in 2013, our church was not even 3 years old. I wondered back then if we could really afford it. Our church was a lot smaller, and I thought, “Maybe we should wait until we are more established to go on these trips.” But God opened the door for us and it seemed like the timing was right. So, we took the plunge and announced that we are going. There was an overwhelming support from the church and the trip was almost entirely financed by the church people. Now, the 2nd time we went on the mission trip, my unbelief said to me, “well, people gave the first year because it was the first time we did it. Surely, they won’t give like that the second time.” But we put it out again. And you again gave and again the trip was almost entirely financed by the church. Well, this is the 7th year we are going on this mission trip, and I’m so humbled and grateful to report that God is still faithful us as you have been faithful to God. 

Act! Take a risk of faith! Learn that God is real! 

1. 18-19, 21 18 Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice… “Give thanks to the Lord,

    for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Lesson: lastly, give thanks, for God’s deliverance or His promise of deliverance. 

 

CONCLUSION: Whenever we are faced with a situation that we do not know what to do, remember APTAT. (John Piper’s). And this story almost perfectly illustrates this acronym. 

A – Admit our weakness to handle the situation.

P – Pray. Pray with faith remember God’s past deliverances.

T – Trust a certain promise of God and repeat it back to God. God always keeps His word.

A – Act! Do what God convicted you to do even if it’s hard. 

T – Give thanks. God works all things for your good for those who love Him. 

ILL: Last Thursday, I got an email saying that our mission team’s flights to thailand had been cancelled. That was two days before they were to depart. The first thing that went through my mind is, “Oh, no. do we have to cancel the trip? Rebook it later in the summer? But they already made arrangements there in Thailand! What do I do? What do I tell our church members who’s been supporting this mission?” Then, I remembered that I was in the middle of preparing a message on “when you do not know what to do?” So, I quickly contacted the mission team members and asked them to pray. I admitted that I was powerless to do anything, but God is powerful. I prayed, and then reminded God that this was God’s idea to go on these trips, not mine. And then I acted. I called Orbitz, our travel agency, and stayed on the phone for 4 hours. At first they were saying they can rebook us in the middle July or they can cancel and I can rebook on my own but the price is now $800 more per person than when I originally booked! Not good options! So, I prayerfully stayed on the phone hoping that they would work something out. Finally, after 5 hours, they came through. They rebooked us on a different airline, but arriving at the same day as the original schedule. God is faithful. Now, I have to be really careful on what topic to preach on because God may test me on that very subject….!