Dear <<First Name>>,
It was one of those days, and I was tired. I lay down on the couch, closed my eyes and asked the Lord for strength.
As I rested, an image from Lord of the Rings came to my mind - thousands upon thousands of evil Uruk-hai marching in unison and chanting, while hobbits, old men and wide-eyed young boys clutched hopelessly inadequate swords and prepared to defend Helm's Deep against the onslaught. Just like them, I was facing problems that threatened to overwhelm me, and I felt incapable of defending myself against them.
As God so often does for me at times like these, I picked up my Bible and it "happened" to fall open to 2 Chronicles 20. Jehoshaphat had just received the news: "A vast army from Edom is marching against you." He responded by turning to God. His prayer was exactly what I needed to pray as well: "O our God, we are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help."
And God responded. The Spirit of the Lord came on one of the men standing there, and he said,
"Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: 'Do not be afraid! Do not be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's. March out against them..., but you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory.'"
So Jehoshaphat went out with his inadequate army to face the hordes: "He appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor: 'Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!' At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the [enemy] armies to start fighting among themselves. So when the army of Judah arrived, ... all they saw were dead bodies as far as they could see."
What struck me most about this passage was that Jehoshaphat did not have a chance in the world of winning that battle, but God told him to send out his army to "take their positions" anyway. He could have told them to stay in bed that day, because he had it under control, but instead he invited them to participate in an active way. I got up off the couch, encouraged to "take up my position" and do whatever he asked me to do that day, however insignificant it might seem. And the first thing I did was pull out my guitar and sing some praises to him.
That was several weeks ago. I am writing this installment from the headquarters of The Seed Company in Arlington, Texas, where I am doing three days of orientation for my new "position" as a linguistics consultant. Today I had the privilege of being prayed for by Mary, whose full-time job with The Seed Company is intercessory prayer! She has spoken prophetically into my life on past occasions, and this time it was no different. The Scripture the Lord gave her for me was (you guessed it!) 2 Chronicles 20:17: "Take up your new position... for the Lord is with you."
There are still 1, 864 languages in the world (at last count) with not a word of Scripture in them. That's a task that is simply too big for any of us. But if each of us involved in this work at any level takes up the unique position we are called to fill, it is not too big for God. We're praying for translation work to begin in every one of those languages in the next 5 or 6 years.
We all face problems that seem unsolvable. Hannah is back in jail for violation of the terms of her pre-trial release, and worries about her, Derek and finances can still keep me up some nights. But all any of us are called to do is get up every morning, take our positions and do whatever God tells us to. At any moment, when we least expect it, Gandalf and the Rohirrim can come riding over the hill and turn the tide of the battle.
Thank you for taking your position and fighting alongside us, for our family and for the Bibleless.
Love,
Barb |
