“O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes [are] upon thee.” (2Ch 20:12 AV)
Jehoshaphat is impressive. He wasn’t perfect. But he was humble. This king had a big heart. He wanted to help others almost to a fault. He helped Ahab and Ahaziah, both wicked kings of Israel, and lost a navy because of it. Jehoshaphat was not a rebel by any stretch of the imagination. He simply felt things deeper than most. If someone was in trouble, he wanted to do something to ease the burden. It never occurred to him the trouble they faced was of their own making and sent from God as chastisement for wickedness. Now, Jehoshaphat was the one in need. Those nations left on the east shore of the River Jordan were rising up against Judah. Edom and Moab joined forces with other nations to invade Judah. It was a significant force. No matter how Jehoshaphat ordered the battle, they would be slaughtered. He knew this. Therefore, we see the prayer above. There was no plan. There was no hope. There were not nearly enough resources. That statement above is one of complete dependence upon God. Jehoshaphat was confronted with a situation he had absolutely no hope of resolving. The only hope he had was in God. Sometimes, this is a good place in which to be.
This is exactly where we are with cancer. With Lisa’s health, there is little to nothing we can do about it. There are treatments. There are dietary changes. There are doctor’s appointments, scans, and medicine. Most stress regrading this is self-inflicted. We put too much on ourselves to solve it. Perhaps there is a treatment we haven’t discovered yet. Maybe there is an experimental drug or procedure that could cure her. Neuroendocrine cancer patients are one of the most informed of all cancer patients. The reason for this is that this type of cancer tends to be a long-term and manageable cancer. It makes no sense to be well informed when suffering from a cancer with a very poor prognosis. The disease takes its course and within a relatively short time, the patient has passed into eternity. With our battle, there is much to learn and much to consider. The downside of this information overload is assuming the answers to her health lie with us. When we read, learn, and act, we expect a certain outcome. Yet is rarely equals our expectations. No matter how much we learn and how much we try, the battle is not ours. Getting to the point of Jehoshaphat’s humility takes a bit. But the longer one battles an unwinnable battle, the more one realizes the battle is the LORD’s.
Jehoshaphat, like I said, has a good heart. He is not afraid to humble himself and fall at the feet of almighty God. Not only that, but he required all Judah to do the same. They fasted. They prayed. They fasted more. They prayed more. It was not an assault in his ego to go to God and pour out his hopeless case. The LORD’s response is precious. God tells Jehoshaphat he is not to even consider fighting a battle because God would do it all for him. That is what we are learning. No matter what we do, or how much we do, the battle is of the LORD. As I write this, Lisa has another potentially serious situation apart from her cancer. To someone who is healthy, this would not be a problem. But for an immunocompromised patient, it is a big deal. Treatment options are limited. The treatment of last resort is a very dangerous one. We are praying that her next visit to the doctors will show complete eradication, or at the very least, significant progress is this fight. There is nothing we can do. The results lie with God. So, the prayer is the same as Jehoshaphat’s above. This is too big for us. We do not have a plan of our own that will work. We need the hand of God to fight this for us. So that is where we will place our faith.
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