Yesterday I said to think of Chronicles like study notes for a test. God keeps repeating the same things over and over so we'll know them when the test comes.Then I read 2 Chronicles 20 today and realized...I've been living this.
Jehoshaphat gets word that this massive army is coming, and Scripture tells us he was afraid. He didn't pretend he wasn't. He just knew where to take his fear.
When I found out I was moving to the middle school this year, I was afraid. I was excited about the move, but when I realized I would be sitting in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math classes every day I was terrified. 😂 There were things I didn't remember. Things I wasn't sure I had ever learned. And I was going to be sitting next to students who needed me to help them understand it.
But I knew where to take that fear.
And now, looking back, I can see just how faithful God had already been. He had been preparing me before I even knew what He was preparing me for. Last year, God placed me in 4th and 5th grade math at the elementary school. At the time, I didn't know that was preparation for now. I was learning alongside the kids. Reviewing things I had forgotten. Rebuilding math skills. Learning strategies. Building a foundation one lesson at a time.
Last year was my Chronicles.
It was study time. God was giving me the notes. And this year is The Test.
Suddenly I'm in middle school math looking at integers, square roots, rational and irrational numbers, fractions, decimals and all kinds of things that would have made me want to run a year ago. 😂 And look at me now. I'm estimating square roots! I'm understanding the numbers. I'm learning. And I'm helping kids understand things that scared me.
And I know 100% that it's God.
He already knew what this year held when I was sitting in those 4th and 5th grade classrooms last year. That's how faithful He is.
He was building the foundation before I even knew I would need it.
That's exactly what I see in Jehoshaphat. This isn't his first test. We've watched him seek God, get things wrong, receive correction, learn, and keep going. Last time he agreed to the battle and then asked God about it. But This time the battle shows up and his first response is to seek God. He learned from the study notes. And his prayer is so simple “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
There have been plenty of mornings walking into those classrooms where i was thinking, God, I don't know how I'm going to do this. But I know where to look.
God tells Jehoshaphat “The battle is not yours, but God's.” Now that didn't mean Jehoshaphat stayed home. He still had to go. And that's been true for me too. I still had to walk into the classroom, sit down, listen and learn. I still had to practice. God didn't magically download middle school math into my brain. 😂 He prepared me, and then He walked with me through it.
God's faithfulness wasn't only in helping me when the test came. His faithfulness was in preparing me before I even knew there was going to be a test.
And we also need to see that the generations were watching Jehoshaphat too. The children stood there as their parents sought God. They watched them admit they didn't know what to do. They watched where they turned. Then they watched God come through.
Our kids don't need to think we always know what we're doing. They need to see where we look when we don't. And Chapter 21 reminds us again that we still can't make the choice for the next generation. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram chose a completely different path.
We can teach them. Prepare them. Let them see us pray. Let them see us afraid. Let them see us trust God anyway. And they need to see all of that from us. But then they have to choose Him for themselves.
Today I'm looking back at last year a little differently. What felt like ordinary 4th and 5th grade math lessons were preparation. I was studying. God already knew the test that was coming. And when the test showed up, I wasn't walking into it alone or completely unprepared.
Neither was Jehoshaphat.
And neither are you.
Pay attention to what God is teaching you right now. You may be looking at the study notes for a test you don't even know is coming yet.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading 2 Chronicles 20-21
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