Finding MerrySample

Sing  

We left the King of Judah with his eyes on the Lord, listening to God for an answer to his impossible crisis. Outnumbered with the enemy quickly encroaching, the entire community prayed. The word of the Lord came to Jahaziel, the prophet, whose message had three parts:

• The battle was not really his, but belonged to the Lord; 
• The king still had a responsibility to show up and lead while Jahaziel provided specifics about the battle plan; and 
• Stand firm, don’t be afraid, and hold your position. The king would not need to fight. 

At this moment, all the King of Judah had was the words of a guy in the crowd. He could have turned to his own wisdom. There was NO EVIDENCE that God was going to fight for him. None. Jehoshaphat could have questioned, balked, writhed, and instigated his own master plan, just in case God didn’t come through. (Sound familiar?)

Instead, this man took God at His Word to the extreme that he put the choir BEFORE the army. When they started to sing, God went to work. 

It doesn’t make any sense, but this is the way God operates. We draw near. Jesus goes before us. You and I listen and show up. And before we see Him do anything good in our lives, we praise Him. I don’t know where God has placed you in this particular season of life, but for most, it’s not absent of the need to resist turning inward, focusing on hardships, the pain, insurmountable problems, and the looming unknowns hanging in the shadows.

Let me encourage you in the manner of Jehoshaphat. Before your God has cleared the fog or erased your suffering--before He has done anything for you at all…sing.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given

No. It doesn’t make sense to put the choir ahead of the army any more than it seems logical to sing when you have not the soul or energy to speak the words. Look beyond yourself and sing. You and I have more than enough reason to find the joy, to focus on the baby, and to look toward the Savior for His magnificent gift. 

Wherever you are this season, I pray you experience the merry that is Christmas.