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Welcome to 10 Minute Bible Talks, where we connect

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the Bible to your life in the time it takes

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to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. There

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is a world of difference between

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feeling overwhelmed about things you're certain

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about and being overwhelmed

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about things that are uncertain. Feeling

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uncertainty might show up as a

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slow-burn, drawn-out sense of worry that

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constantly rumbles around in your head.

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Or it might be an acute

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sense of anxiety or stress that

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leaves you feeling completely disoriented. Let's

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bring that word overwhelmed to life for

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a moment. Its original

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meaning carries a sense of being

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turned upside down or overthrown, a

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sensation of being submerged or

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overcome, like a boat being

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swamped in the ocean. Now

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we might casually toss around the

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word overwhelmed in day-to-day life, yet

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it's actually rooted in a sense of

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our lives being tossed around, especially

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when things are uncertain, when

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we're disoriented, not knowing what to

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do. At least to a

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big question, what do you do when

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you're overwhelmed like that? What

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exactly can you do when

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you don't know what to do? Maybe

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that question lands in your life

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because of unexpected or persistent suffering,

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a diagnosis for you or a

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loved one that upends the plans that you had for

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this year or this month or

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even the plans you had for this week. A

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relationship that used to be thriving is

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now hanging on by a thread or

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a constant sense of being overwhelmed at

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school or at work or at home,

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making you uncertain if or how you'll

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make it through the end of the

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day. Or perhaps it's

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an ongoing sense of doubt, wanting

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to know if God is there, you're not really

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knowing for sure. sure if he

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is. There are

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countless overwhelming scenarios that

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disorient us and debilitate

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our ability to know what to

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do. So back to our question, what

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exactly can you do when

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you don't know what to do? That's

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the question that our passage addresses today

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in 2nd Chronicles. Chapters 17

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through 20 are dedicated to the

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reign of the king of Judah named

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Jehoshaphat. Instead of surveying

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all four chapters covering Jehoshaphat's life,

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we're gonna just focus on one

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of the most powerful life-giving prayers

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in the entire Bible right

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here in 2nd Chronicles 20. So

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whether you're a committed follower of Jesus, a

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skeptic, or somewhere in between,

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this prayer will invite you to

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see the God who is with

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us, especially in those

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times of overwhelming uncertainty when

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we don't know what to do. As we

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prepare to engage with this prayer, let's ask

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God to form our hearts and minds in

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this time. Heavenly Father,

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thank you for the gifts of life and breath.

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Thank you for your word. Jesus, help

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us abide in you as we engage

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with your truth. Holy

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Spirit, we ask you to move in and

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through this time in 2nd Chronicles. As

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we read these words, let

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these words read us and

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restore us. And we

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pray in a special way for those who

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are overwhelmed, disoriented,

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and don't know what to do. Lord,

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help us in this time. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Let's start by putting ourselves in

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Jehoshaphat's shoes. At the beginning

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of chapter 20, we read that he's

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about to be attacked by three different

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armies working together against him. This

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is a sense of overwhelm on

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a national scale. So how does

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Jehoshaphat respond? He

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could corral his army or try to

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make a quick alliance with another nation,

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but there's a problem. The armies...

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His coming for him are already

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about to knock on Jehoshaphat's front

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door. There's nothing he can do.

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He is stuck in the state of

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being overwhelmed. We read in verse 3,

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then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set

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his face to seek the Lord.

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He goes on to have the entire

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nation of Judah fast and gather together

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for prayer. And the beginning

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of the prayer sets the stage for the rest of

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it. Here the

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King of Judah recognizes the one

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true King over all things. He

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prays in verse 6, O Lord, God

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of our fathers, are you not God

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in heaven? You rule

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over all the kingdoms of the nations. In

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your hand are power and might, so

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that none is able to withstand you.

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Jehoshaphat begins by overturning our sense

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of where the power belongs in

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times of uncertainty. Based

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on his circumstances, we could assume

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that Jehoshaphat would say, in my

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enemy's hands are power and might. None

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is able to withstand them. And

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that in fact may be how he feels in

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some ways in this moment, but his

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prayer totally subverts that. Even

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as he is surrounded by his

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enemies and is overwhelmed, he knows

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that the power to rule belongs

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to his creator King alone. In

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his hand are power and might. Nothing

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can withstand the Lord Almighty. The

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uncertain thing that threatens to turn

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his life upside down here is

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not the thing controlling his life. And

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notice that Jehoshaphat doesn't try to make a

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quick grab for power himself. Let's skip ahead

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to verse 12, for we

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are powerless against this vast army that

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is coming against us. He

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acknowledges his own powerlessness and the

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powerlessness of his people. This

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is so different from our

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default desire for control. It's

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as if the factory setting of our hearts.

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is to not only maintain power

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and uncertainty, but actually to

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increase it. We imagine

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that we can eliminate our anxiety or

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our fear with more of our

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power, more of our

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certainty. But Jehoshaphat

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knows better here, this

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counter-cultural, counter-intuitive movement in

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his prayer is simply

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naming reality. Jehoshaphat

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is not clinging to control

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or managing his power. He

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is fully surrendering himself and his

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people into the hands of God. As

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Jehoshaphat names his powerlessness, he is actually

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setting the stage for the next sentence.

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We do not know what to do, but

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our eyes are on you. In

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the midst of overwhelming uncertainty, we look

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to the one who is not overcome,

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who is not undone.

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We look to our Maker. When

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life is turned upside down by chaos

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and we cannot see the world with

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certainty, we cannot see our own lives

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with certainty, there is one person we

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can and need to see, the one

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who made all things and is making all

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things new. Let's

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bring that sentence of this prayer into

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some of the overwhelming scenarios of our

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lives or in the lives of people we love. God

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we don't know what to do with

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this terrifying diagnosis, but our

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eyes are on you. God

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we don't know what to do with this fractured

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relationship, but our eyes are

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on you. God

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we don't know what to do with these

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disorienting doubts in our lives, but our eyes

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are on you. We

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don't know what to do with our helplessness, with

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our kids in their situations but

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our eyes are on you. We

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don't know what to do with the pain of loneliness,

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but our eyes are on you. God

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we don't know what to do with

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this weighty situation at work, but our

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eyes are on you. In

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these one sentence prayers I am

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reminded of dear family members and

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friends whose lives are wrapped

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up in circumstances like these. Take

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a moment now to pause and pray

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for an overwhelming scenario that you are

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in right now or for

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someone you love. The

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most important question when we are

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overwhelmed is not do you

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know what to do. The

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most important question is who are you looking

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to? In a huge

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way this is the difference between the

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absence of faith and the presence of

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it. It's not about your strength or

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about your certainty. It's

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about who you are looking to. In

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the midst of his overwhelming uncertainty

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Jehoshaphat and his people are powerless

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but they are not passive. Thus

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they seek the Lord, they

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come together as a community and even

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as they name their powerlessness they press

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into the one thing that matters. We

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don't know what to do but our

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eyes are on you. The

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Lord responds to that prayer in verse 15

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saying do not be afraid

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and do not be discouraged because of

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this vast army for the

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battle is not yours but

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God's. He goes on in

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verse 17 to say do not

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be afraid, do not be discouraged, go

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out to face them tomorrow and the

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Lord will be with you. It

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reminds me of this line from the pastor and

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theologian Frederick Buechner. He says this, here

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is the world, beautiful and

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terrible things will happen. Don't

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be afraid. Don't

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be afraid because the battle is not yours,

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it's God's. Don't

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be afraid because your creator will be with

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you. You can go out, you can keep

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going. As the

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chapter goes on Jehoshaphat and

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his people are saved from

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their enemies but there is an interesting

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The leading revealing line in verse

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21 before everyone goes out to

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the battle, before the

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victory, before the

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overwhelming uncertainty is alleviated,

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there is a song. Here

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it is. Give thanks to

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the Lord for His steadfast

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love endures forever. That

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song is such a striking picture of faith,

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not just because of the words that are

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in it, but because of when

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it happens. The circumstances

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are not yet resolved. The tension

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is still there. There is still

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uncertainty. And yet

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there is a resolute sense of trust in

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the God who is there. So

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even as we sit in the uncertainty

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of today and tomorrow, the thing that

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we need most is absolutely certain. His

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steadfast love endures forever.

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Whether you are convinced of God's presence

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with you or still considering what you

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believe about Him. Know

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that the steadfast love of God here is

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not just an idea. It

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is a reality. It is

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a reality that is displayed on the cross

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of Jesus and the empty tomb that He

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left behind. The

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God who made you is making all things

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new. And if that

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is true, then there is no overwhelming

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uncertainty that can take away the love

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and life that you have in Him. So

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back to our question, what exactly can

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you do when you don't know

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what to do? It

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turns out that that question isn't answered with

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a what as much as it

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is answered with a who. God,

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we don't know what to do, but our

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eyes are on You. You

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are with us. Your

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steadfast love endures forever.

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Amen.