Has life turned out the way you thought it would? Are you dissatisfied with your current state of affairs? Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by the pressing problems of life that you can hardly even process what it is you need to do to handle things anymore?

 

If so, welcome to the club! Now, what can we do?

 

We do not know what to do. but our eyes are upon you. 

II Chronicles 20:12

 

Do you ever feel that way? Perhaps you are feeling it right now. We have trouble in our lives, but we don't really know what to do about it - so, what can we do?

 

Over 2,800 years ago, there was a king who felt that very way. His name was Jehoshaphat, a funny name, I know, but his life was anything but laughable for he was a man who sought the LORD!

 

The setting for this verse is fairly simple. Three nations had come to Jerusalem to destroy the nation of Judah and take over their territory. Some years earlier, these very nations were spared by the Israelites at the express command of God. But now they were assembled together as one vast army to wipe out the very people who had spared them. King Jehoshaphat knew that they were too small to fight against such a mighty army, so he took his plea to God. He ordered a fast for the entire nation, and they gathered at Jerusalem - men, women, children, and even their babies - and they stood before the Lord while Jehoshaphat prayed.

 

And God heard that prayer, and God rescued Judah out of the hands of those who threatened them.

 

Now, you might be thinking that this is a fine story, but what does it have to do with me, today? That would be a most pertinent question to ask, and one that we should do our best to answer, so here goes...

 

I believe we all get into situations in our lives where we feel absolutely overwhelmed. Perhaps the problem was one of our own making, perhaps it was one that came entirely from outside forces, or maybe it was a combination of the two. But the fact remains that we are in a type of trouble that we cannot fix on our own. This is where King Jehoshaphat can help us nearly 3,000 years after he died and was buried. 

 

The solution to the difficulties that we might be steeped up to our neck in is to turn to God!

 

And the beauty of this solution is that we don't even really have to have a clue as to how to solve the problems that we might be facing at any given time. All we have to know to start is that God can help if we will just let him.

 

Do you have problems? Not necessarily problems that you feel are as life-threatening as having armies surrounding you, but maybe they are that big. But, big or small, the fact is that you realize that something is not quite right in your life and that you need to fix that before it gets too late.

 

This is what the next 30 days are going to be all about - fixing your problems in order that you might begin to live the life that God called you to in the first place. For the next 30 days, we will look at some very basic principles from the Word of God that can literally change the direction of our lives, if we will let them. I do want to warn you though that while the principles and solutions we will be looking at are very basic and might seem too simplistic, they will not be easy, Coming in contact with these principles will force you to make certain decisions and types of commitments that you have perhaps been unwilling to make in the past, but make them you must if you are to ever acquire the peace in your life that you seek.

 

We will begin looking at these principles, tomorrow. I hope to see you then!