An Amazing Story

Excerpted from Keys to Joy: How to Unlock God’s Gift of Lasting Happiness

God provides many examples in His Word of His people responding to bad times with worship and praise. Second Chronicles 20 is my favorite example. A huge army was on the march to obliterate Judah. Their leader Jehoshaphat was terrified, but he called everyone together to pray. He began by worshipping God for who He is and what He had done for them.

At the end of his beautiful prayer he confessed, “We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (verse 12). The Lord responded with words of encouragement, but they still had to face the overwhelming army.

Then Jehoshaphat and all Judah did something outrageous. They worshiped and praised the Lord. As if that weren’t enough, he appointed a choir to sing praises to the Lord. Do you know where the choir performed? Out in front of Judah’s army as they marched into battle! Imagine volunteering for that choir!

Then the most amazing thing happened as they began to sing and praise. God took up the battle for them and utterly defeated the attacking forces. The enemy even helped kill each other until not one man was left alive. Afterwards, they praised the Lord for what He had done and even renamed the place “Valley of Praise.”

I was challenged to discover what they praised God for when they were still in deep trouble. They praised Him for the splendor of His holiness. When you can see nothing in your circumstances to be thankful for, you can always focus on the Lord and praise Him for who He is. When you do, you can be sure He’ll be very close.

Blessings on you,

Gaylyn Williams, Co-author of Never Do Fundraising Again: A Paradigm Shift from Donors to Lifelong Partners. This is a great resource for any missionaries, short-term or long-term, who has to raise their support. Consider getting it as a Christmas gift!

 “By coming to know God we are given everything we need to live a godly life (2 Pe 1:3). This book is a labor of love from Gaylyn Williams’ heart, to God’s people who desire to know Him better, and what better way to get to know Him than to study His names. Each name of God expresses one of His attributes, thereby telling us Who He really is. I urge you, to use this book along with your Bible, read it daily, study it and meditate on Him, the God who is Love (1John 4:16). Wow!!! What a Savior!”

—Steven R Sherwood, Sr. Pastor Fairview Baptist Church, Kokomo, IN

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