2 Chronicles 20:12, “…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.”
I read this passage in 2 Chronicles a few days ago during my morning reading. It’s such a beautiful and invincible response to suffering…..To be able to confess our own utter powerlessness and then to look with hopeful desperation to the Lord who alone can preserve us…..that really gets near to the essence of faith.
In 2 Chronicles the situation is an overwhelming army marching up against God’s people…but Jehosophat’s plea here is just as fitting coming from the lips of all God’s people whenever they are faced with a dismaying and overwhelming trial (aka, every morning of every day under the fall). And what is the hope here? It’s the LORD Himself….Jehosophat begins his prayer by recounting WHO the Lord is and WHAT He has done (nearly synonymous confessions) and then–on the basis of God’s revealed character–the king looks to Him with faith that He will–whatever else–be faithful to His Name…..
So too for the Christian……we don’t look to the Exodus to know YHWH (though, of course, we can learn about Him there), we definitively look to the CROSS….we look to the slain and risen Son and say, “THIS is my God, THIS is His heart, THIS is His character, HE has overcome EVERY fear and HE has risen in victory and HE has bound me to Himself….I am His….” and knowing Him, trusting Him, we look with helpless hope to our risen God. He will bring us through the shadow of death and into the light of joy, no matter what, it is a promised sealed in blood.
So……today, whatever “horde” Sovereign Love has ordained that we face this day, let us admit our powerlessness and with helpless and invincible hope, look to Jesus Christ.
