He Is Able

# 300 – Still more today on the role of fasting in conquering fear. Let's read from 2 Chronicles 20 beginning at v1: “After this the Moabites and Ammonites and with them some of the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat , “a great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is, Engedi) Then Jehoshaphat was afraid.”   He was what? Afraid. Great fear gripped Jehoshaphat! No wonder they called him, “jumpin' Jehosophat!” The enemies of Israel were far superior to his forces and they were coming after him and they were already at a nearby city, the deadline was looming. There was no running, no escaping.   What did this fear cause him to do? V3 - And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. It was this fasting that set his face to seek the Lord. It was fasting and prayer that caused God to intervene. It was the fasting that caused God to jump into his field of vision, it was fasting that allowed him to see God instead of the problem!   What happened to Jehoshaphat  and the Israelites after their fast. Incredibly, the armies of the Ammonites, Moabites, and Meunites destroyed each other, and by the time the Israelites arrived for the battle , “they looked to the horde and behold there were dead bodies on the ground.” (2 Chron 20:24.)  This is what God is able to do to your source of fear. He is able to scatter your fear like the dead bodies of the Ammorites And after this stunning victory Jehoshaphat addressed the people and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper." God is able! Just ask those who went through the Red Sea and saw the source of their fears drowned when the sea closed in over Pharaoh’s army.   Just ask Daniel, when the source of his fears had their mouths silenced and their jaws wired shut when he spent the night with his fears in the lions den.   Just ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego  when the source of their fears tried to turn up the heat in the fiery furnace. Just ask Peter, when his head was on the chopping block and the way out was opened up to him. What is He able to do in your life when fear grips you. I don’t know, I only know when it grips you to the point of immobilizing you, it’s time to fast. It’s time to call out to God, and say “I can’t, but You can!” In fasting you call God into the picture, and He stands between you and the source of your fears.   And His shadow alone is enough to scatter the enemy, and to give you the victory!