Welcome to episode 27.
Today, we're going to take on a posture of peace
by making Thanksgiving our battle cry.
Hi, I'm Lindsay VanZale.
Posture is a podcast that serves as a short, audible fist bump
to remind you that God is in everything.
Together, we're going to be emboldened to take
a daily posture of perfect peace.
Our God is loving, He is kind, He is faithful,
He is rich in mercy, full of compassion,
and He is also a mighty, victorious warrior king.
Our God has never lost a battle.
It's so important, especially in times of crisis,
to make sure that we have an accurate picture of who God is
so that we have an accurate picture of who we are.
You and I are warriors, too, and we share in the victory
of our warrior king.
As a posture community, I want to refine our focus together
on that truth by reminiscing past breakthrough and battles
that our God has won on behalf of His people.
Today, we're going to be reading a story of a battle
out of 2 Chronicles 20.
Again, read this chapter in its entirety.
It is so rich.
I'm going to be pulling portions of the story
and summarizing for us today.
This is about King Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah.
Three armies come up against Judah.
Jehoshaphat gets a message that says,
a great multitude is coming up against you.
And in verse 3, it says, he was afraid.
And he set his face to seek the Lord.
As he prays for help, he says, we do not know what to do.
But our eyes are on you, Lord.
Just like David, who we talked about in episode 26 yesterday,
Jehoshaphat did not know what to do.
But he knew the Lord.
And that was enough.
And the Lord responds to him.
And I would just love, as I read the Lord's response,
for you to imagine that this is the Lord's response
to the crisis that we're facing globally,
or perhaps a crisis that you are facing personally right now.
The Lord says, do not be afraid.
And do not be dismayed.
For this battle is not yours, but it is God's.
The Lord says about this crisis that we're facing,
you will not need to fight in this battle.
Stand firm.
Hold your position.
And see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be dismayed.
Tomorrow, go out against them.
And the Lord will be with you.
Now, Jehoshaphat was smart, so he was quick to obey.
And he assembled his army to do what the Lord says,
which was go out against them.
But what he does is very interesting.
I don't think I've ever seen this war strategy.
At the front of his army, before there's
any swords or shields or spears, he places people of praise.
And their battle cry was one of thanksgiving.
They were singing, give thanks to the Lord
for his love endures forever.
This battle cry, to me, sounds a lot like a song of victory.
It sounds to me like Jehoshaphat was calling it
based on what the Lord had told him,
as if the battle was already won.
So to summarize what happens in the rest of the story,
as they began to sing in praise, the Bible
says that the Lord sets an ambush against the three
armies that are coming up against them.
And those armies begin to attack one another.
And the Bible says they all helped destroy one another.
So by the time that Jehoshaphat and the army of Judah arrives,
there are dead bodies.
And the Bible says not one from those three armies escaped.
And for the next three days, Jehoshaphat and Judah's army
collected the spoils from the victorious battle.
That is a lot of stuff if it takes three days to collect it.
And on the fourth day, it says in verse 26,
in the valley of blessing, they assembled
and they blessed the Lord.
And that is why the place was called a valley of blessing to this day.
What if what the enemy has intended to be our valley of death, the Lord intends to be
our valley of blessing?
With so much abundance, it's going to take us days to collect on it.
This is what our warrior king is capable of, and we as his people, warriors, are responsible
to make sure that our battle cry aligns with his truth.
Today, let's give thanks for the victory that is coming at the end of this crisis.
We will not be overtaken.
The Lord will overtake what the enemy has sent for harm, and he will turn for the good
of his people.
That's Romans 8, 28.
Friend, do not be afraid.
Do not be dismayed.
This battle is not yours.
It is our God's, and he never loses a battle.
The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26, 3.
And in Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom, meaning complete wholeness.
Nothing missing, nothing broken.
This is who you are in Jesus.
Let's declare this together.
Today, I am kept in perfect peace.
With my whole heart, I trust the Lord.
I am strong.
I am victorious.
I am whole.
Remember, friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus' ultimate win.
Not because of anything you did, but because of what he did for you.
With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus' victory on display and Satan's defeat
on replay.