Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

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Tim's Thoughts

by Tim Osborne, Director of Youth Ministries

Not Yours

March 2010

This has been one heck of a couple months. I have more anecdotes than I do space. Besides, you probably don’t have the time to read it all. The readers digest version goes like this. I am tired. Every time I turn around something breaks, someone gets sick, something I can’t afford needs replacing, things I don’t have time for have to get repaired. I am weary. There is always something. I am worn out.

To top it all off, I live in the same broken world with the same broken people you do. Just when I have no emotional reserves whatsoever, somebody does something, says something, or demands something that just rips into my soul. No adjectives do this justice. You’ve been there. You feel it in your gut. Hurt. Anger. Fear. Loneliness. Frustration. Despair.

So that’s where I was when my Dad returned my phone call. Sometimes a guy just needs to hear from his dad. I told him about it and he prayed for me. As he prayed he said a powerful, Holy-Spirit-breathed phrase. He said, “Tim, it’s not your battle.” He told me that it is God’s battle and sent me to 2 Chronicles 20 to read the story of King Jehoshaphat. If you have never read it, go grab a Bible and read it now. It is an amazing story. Even if you know the story, go back, read it again. We can’t hear this enough.

So the tiny little nation of Judah is getting attacked by 3 other nations all at once. They are doomed. King Jehoshaphat does something unexpected. He goes to church. He walks into the temple to worship God. Then he prays. He just lays it all out there. He prays with such confidence that it gives me goose bumps. He declares that when God’s people pray for help God “will hear us and save us.” Why don’t we pray like that?

This life is full of potholes, disappointments, mean people and broken things. We should expect difficulty. We are part of God’s Kingdom that is breaking into a sinful and rebellious world which is constantly resisting and fighting back. But it is NOT OUR KINGDOM. It is God’s. It is NOT OUR BATTLE. It is God’s.

That is what God told Jehoshaphat. He said “the battle is not yours, but God’s.” That fact is still true. This is not your fight. We are weary and worn out because we are fighting when we should be praying. We need to ask the King to fight for us. This takes humility. We must surrender our pride. We are so used to doing it ourselves. Not this time. Our job is to stand, watch and pray.  And praise, we must not forget praise.

This is what King Jehoshaphat did. He marched out just like God said. Jehoshaphat was so confident that God was going to fight the battle that instead of putting soldiers, cavalry, chariots or war machines on the front lines, he rounded up the praise band and the choir. The army walked out onto the battle field led by the worship leaders who were singing this:

“Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 20:21

Their confidence in God was not in vain. It never is. As they sang and praised God, the LORD ambushed their enemies, wiped them out. God fights for us. He always has. That is what a King does. He fights the battle that threatens our families, our hearts and our very lives. Don’t forget that our King has already won. It may feel otherwise, but just wait, sing, pray, give thanks and watch.

God is faithful. He will fight, win and just like he did for Jehoshaphat he will give you rest on every side. That is what happens when you trust: REST; just what we need. Soak it in. You and I have been going it alone, taking on enemies that are not ours to fight. We have worn ourselves out. We need to rest and be renewed.

I just can’t get over the fact that all of this started with prayer and worship. These are our much neglected weapons. I don’t know about you, but when I stop using my energy to push back all that presses down on me and pray, something changes. Psalm 149:6 says that worship is like a double edged sword. When we declare that Jesus is King it changes the atmosphere in a room. When we tell God how great He is something significant shifts both in us and in the spiritual realm.

Praise is deadly to despair. When we shout out heartfelt worship and depend on our King, everything comes back into focus. It’s not my battle. And it’s not yours. The battle is the Lord’s! Stop fighting. Start singing!