“I feel so paralyzed,” I finally managed to utter words after crying ugly tears.

I remember I had this depressing experience when our family faced a major financial setback. I did not know what to do. And being the plan-freak that I am, I hated it when I did not even have a plan to get out of where I was. Have you been in that situation? Maybe you lost a loved one, failed in your subjects, lost all your money, or are about to make a huge decision.

Comfortingly, God led me to 2 Chronicles 20 about King Jehoshaphat’s story who was about to face a huge battle against surrounding tribes of Judah. He prayed the same prayer you and I pray: “God, we don’t know what to do…”

So I am sharing 3 things that King Jehu did when he did not know what to do which hopefully will help you:

WHAT KING JEHOSHAPHAT DID WHEN THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO

1.   Pay attention to what God says

“Alarmed, Jeshoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed they came from every town in Judah to seek Him.” (verses 3-4)

Tribe Judah resolved to position itself to ask the Lord, to inquire of the Lord, to hear from the Lord. Judah chose to pay attention. Most of us resort to planning, but King Jehu depended on the Lord, not on plan A-Zs or any tactics their intellect could ever think of.

Like King Jehu, let us resolve to pay attention to the Lord – not to the bad news which can immobilize us – but to the Lord who can energize us.

2.   Pour out your brokenness

You will find a long prayer by the King in these verses but I would like to highlight the first two words in verse 6 :

“and said…” (v 6-11)

The King said a prayer, he poured out to the Lord. Sometimes when we do not know what to do, we also do not know what to pray, but in cases like that – just pour out. Go and be honest before God and tell him what makes your heart so heavy, release it all before the Lord.

God will take care of the solution, we just need to tell him about our situation.

Fast forward to verses 24-25, we can see that Judah ended up victors of a very impossible battle.

²⁴ When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing^[d] and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it.

So if you ever come to a point of not knowing what to do, remember King Jehoshaphat’s story and have your own kind of victory.

3. Press on nonetheless

17  “Go out and face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.. You will not have to fight.. See the deliverance of the Lord.” 20 “Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa…” (v 17-20)

The hardest thing to do in times of trying is to show up, right? But even if you do not know how to win your day’s battle, remember to press on and well, JUST. SHOW. UP. Press on so you can see God’s solution.

Imagine if the tribe of Judah hadn’t shown up when God told them to? Will God still fight for them? Will God work out salvation for them? I believe so. Because God is faithful and He will do as He promised. But, had they not pressed on, they will not see the deliverance of the Lord. They would not have seen the LORD move. They will remain in fear for the rest of their lives, not knowing that God has already won the battle for them.

If you are at the point of your life where you don’t know what to do, quitting shouldn’t be your option. Don’t quit on your dreams, don’t quit on your purpose, don’t quit on hope and faith. Press on! God moves! God solves! God saves!