Victory Over Our Enemy: How To Overcome A Threat

August 11, 2021·Elizabeth Ewens

Have you ever been threatened? Bullied? Felt an enemy breathing down your neck? Most of us have experienced such a moment. In 2 Chronicles, chapter 20, we read this week in our Pause plan about King Jehoshaphat facing a scary, threating situation. Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah and has obeyed the Word of the Lord and brought the children of Israel back to a place of worshiping God. All is well. In this case, the enemy is coming through no fault of King Jehoshaphat. They were doing everything right.

And then, Whack! The enemy threatens the children of Israel with war. Verse 1 of chapter 20 states, “It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat.” This was a huge army of soldiers that greatly outnumbered the children of Israel.

You and I have been in such a situation. Be it a health scare, financial ruin, relationship crisis, or any other thing that roars at us like a lion that we are doomed, defeated, ruined. It’s a scary place to be. And this is exactly the situation King Jehoshaphat and his people were facing. As we read the rest of the chapter, we learn how they responded to the threat and won the victory.

Here is what Jehoshaphat did in response to the threat:

Verse 3: Jehoshaphat feared the Lord and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
Verse 13: Jehoshaphat led all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, to stand before the Lord.
Verse 14: God sent His word through a Prophet to encourage and direct Jehoshaphat in what to do; all the people responded to God’s words and believed Him.
Verse 22: The people began to sing and praise the Lord! Worship proceeds the victory.
Verse 23: The Lord fought the battle for His people and defeated their enemies.

If you and I will follow this same response when we face a threat, God will fight our battle for us. So, how do we overcome a real threat and see a victory?

Call upon the Lord. Do this with the whole family. If your current situation is the result of your doing, acknowledge that before the Lord. Fear Him, not your enemy.
Stand on God’s Word and believe His promises. In Jehoshaphat’s case, the word of the Lord was, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of the great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” What is God’s word for you?
Sing and praise the Lord. Sing songs of God’s Word, songs of deliverance, songs that state how big our God is. Do this with the family.
Verse 17 states: “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

So, be encouraged today if you face a threat, a daunting challenge, or an enemy. Cry out to God. Read His Word. Worship Jesus. Stand and see the salvation of the Lord. Read again 2 Chronicles, chapter 20, and be blessed to know how God cares for His children.

Pastor Elizabeth Ewens