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Are you facing another battle?

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Does it seem at times like the opposition will just never end?

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Well, I've got an encouraging word for you today.

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My name is Leanne Friesman and I'm with Restoring Word and today it's a short little message

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just to inspire hope in you.

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You know, there was a king in the Bible in the Old Testament named Jehoshaphat and he

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was facing an impossible situation.

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It just looked like in every direction that he was going to be attacked, that he was going

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to battle and there just didn't seem to be any way in the natural he was going to be

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able to win.

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And I'm in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, which just happens to be one of my favorite chapters

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because it really tells you a lot about character and it sets a beautiful example for you.

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And for me when we're facing something incredibly difficult that maybe we don't understand and

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maybe in the natural looks impossible and we know the odds are not good and we're getting

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the bad diagnosis, but there is a place that you run to and you run into God's presence.

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You don't run away from God because God is the answer to the problem.

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And I know it's easy to get mad, to question, to wonder, okay, God, where are you and why

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am I going through this again?

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And even it can even get so bad that you even question whether or not God is real and does

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he really love me?

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And I have good news for you today.

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He does love you and he is the answer to your problems.

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He's not the problem.

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When you begin to study the Levitical priesthood here, you can learn a lot about spiritual

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warfare and, you know, we all go through difficult things.

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But the first thing that King Jehoshaphat did starting in about, well, chapter 20, and

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I'm going to go down into about chapter, verse 3, alarmed Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire

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of the Lord and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.

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So what's the first thing he did?

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Number one, he knew there was something coming and he knew he was going to have to get unity

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and he was going to have to pray and he was going to have to fast.

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That'll preach.

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Number two, instead of getting mad at God, he assembled people together and he called

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for prayer.

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And here in the second point is he begins just pouring his heart out to God.

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And here he says, oh, our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before

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your people, Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham, your friend?

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He's reminding God, wait a minute, didn't you say that this is where I was supposed

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to be and this was our inheritance and God, didn't you promise us this?

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You know, you can be doing everything right and still be under attack.

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That doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong or that there's some sort of secret

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sin in your life and now that's why you're under attack.

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No, you can be doing everything right.

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Go to God and remind him of what he promised you.

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God, you told me this was my inheritance.

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Lord, you told me this place was for us and for our descendants and for generations to

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come.

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Pray, fast, begin to pray and remind God of what he said and what he's done.

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Okay.

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And then he begins to remind the people that who God is and his strength and in his power.

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Even here down in verse 12, he says, oh, our God, will you not judge them for we have no

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power to face this vast army that is attacking us.

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

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Sometimes it's okay not to know what to do, you know?

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What do I do now?

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I don't know.

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Where do I go now?

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I don't know.

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What's my answer?

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I know God's the answer, but I'm going to trust.

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Maybe I don't see that answer right now.

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Maybe I'm not getting a clear direction.

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Maybe I'm not knowing exactly what I'm supposed to do, but I do know that I go to him and

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that in the middle of the battle, I trust him.

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Have you ever gone through something and then you look back and you realize afterwards

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that God was actually fighting your battle all along?

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And you look back and you just think, God, you were so good to me.

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God, you knew and I didn't.

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God, you preserved me in ways I couldn't have even explained yet.

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He's that kind of God. He is that good. He will preserve. He will protect. He will care for you.

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But I love it here because even this leader, number one, he wasn't afraid to admit that maybe

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he didn't know it all. And number two, he reminded everybody that he was leading,

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that God is in control. You know, if you're in leadership, you don't necessarily have to have

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all the answers. Isn't that comforting? Isn't it nice to know that you can be transparent and you

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can say, I don't get this, but I trust you, God. That's so good because no one is perfect. No one

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has the answers. And at times, especially when you're in leadership, you don't know.

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You don't know the full picture. I learned long ago that I trust my pastor and I trust my leaders

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that are over me. I don't have to know everything. In fact, if you've worked in ministry in any

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amount of time, you know, it's often better. You don't know things. You just trust that what you

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don't know is for your own good. And God is doing something bigger than what you could have imagined.

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It goes on here. And when the spirit of the Lord came upon Jehazel, son of Zechariah,

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the son of Benaniah, the son of JL, the son of Benaniah, a Levite, a descendant of Asaph.

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Ooh, this is a musician who comes from a musical family. I wrote an awful lot about the Levites

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and the importance and the significance of Levites in my book years ago, Heart of Worship.

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And I love studying the Levites. They're near and dear to my heart. And they were musicians that

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were trained to lead in the temple and they knew how to lead their people. And that was to lead

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their people into the presence of God through praise and worship. Okay. And this is what he says.

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Do not be afraid or be discouraged because the vast army for the battle is not yours, but God's.

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Tomorrow, march out against them. And so it gives them instructions and they're to take their

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positions and they're to stand firm and they're to wait and they're to watch. Have you ever been

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through something so bad that you just literally had to praise and pray and then stand and watch?

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It's hard, but you know what? God goes ahead of you. And when God goes ahead of you,

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what do you have to fear? He's in control. He's leading you. He's giving you peace that

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passes all understanding. And then going on, Jehoshaphat did another thing.

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He bowed down here in verse 18. He bows down with his face to the ground with all the people of

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Jerusalem, Judah and Jerusalem, and they worship before the Lord. This leader led by example,

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bowing down before God in worship is biblical. It's one of those Hebrew words I love to teach on.

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The king was leading by example. He was going before his people. He was acknowledging who

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was fighting the battle for him. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and the Korites

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stood up and praised the God of Israel with a very loud voice. Early in the morning, they left for

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the desert and they set out and Jehoshaphat said, listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem,

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have faith in the Lord, your God, and you will be upheld. Have faith in his prophets and you

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will be successful. And after consulting, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord

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and to praise. If you are a worship leader, you are appointed to lead your people in difficult

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seasons, seasons where things are painful, seasons where things can be confusing, but you have been

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appointed and anointed to do what you're doing. And that is you're leading your people by example

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into God's presence in a time of great difficulty. And it's a holy and sacred thing that you're

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really doing for your people here. And then they sang, give thanks to the Lord for his love

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endures forever. And they began to sing praise. And it's really interesting here because what

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they did was they took these praise and worship leaders and the musicians went ahead of the army.

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The Levites went ahead of the guns and the tanks and the spears and the arrows and the men who had

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practiced and become skillful in the natural things of war. They put the praise and worship

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leaders who had become skillful at the supernatural.

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things of war. Okay, it's important that you do everything in the natural, yes, but

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then it's also important that when you go to battle, you do all of the things in

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the supernatural as well. Okay, because when you combine both, that is when God

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can do supernatural, powerful things for you on your behalf. He wants to be your

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defender. He wants to protect you. He wants to preserve you. And it goes on

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here that, as they began to sing, the Lord set out ambushments against the men of

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Ammon, Moab, and Mount Sair. And it's amazing the repercussions, and I'm

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going to talk about this next week, of how fighting battles God's way brings

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provision, it brings blessing, it brings a testimony, it brings glory to Him.

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Because ultimately, you know, when we fight, and when we praise, and when we we

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do things God's way, not necessarily our way, but when when we fight things

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according to His way and His Word, and we invite Him into the situation, He is

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going to be there for us, and He is going to fight. One more thing before I close

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today, I just I just want to remind you that when you're in the middle of the

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battle, you know, people can do and say very painful, difficult things when

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you're going through something hard. We lost my pastor here years ago, Dr. Billy

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Joe Doherty, who was a man of great faith, and he was very, very strong. And I can

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tell you that when he passed, there was just confusion. People just didn't

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understand, and a lot of people said stupid stuff. You know, people are gonna

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say stupid stuff, and when they do, you've just got to forgive them. When my

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grandmother passed away, people said painful, stupid stuff to my mother, and

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she never really got over it. And I never even really knew about it until my aunt

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told me about it years after my mother had passed. You know, people can say

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really stupid things when you're in the middle of the battle. You've got to guard

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your heart. Don't get battle, don't get, don't get bitter, is what I meant. Don't,

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don't take what they say personally or to heart. You guard your heart. You keep

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your heart in that right place. Repent of any bitterness or unforgiveness. Let

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it go, baby, let it go. Let God go before you. He will fight your battles, and you

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will find that if you, if you forgive, you're not always gonna forget, but if

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you forgive, and you let it go, and you keep pressing into his goodness, keep

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pressing into his provision, and, and his love for you, I can guarantee you, you're

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gonna see him move in ways that you couldn't even imagine. He is good. Let him

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fight your battles for you. Thanks for listening. It means the world to me if

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you'll like and share this message with others that you think need to hear this.

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Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day. Thanks.