Kerry Shook - Fear to Blessing
On October 28, 1991, the North Atlantic experienced one of the rarest weather events of the century: Three separate weather systems were perfectly aligned to come together on a collision course. A great lake storm was moving east, a Canadian cold front was moving south, and hurricane Grace was moving northeast, and when the three systems collided, it created what would later be known as the perfect storm, and the perfect storm produced these massive rogue waves up to 100 feet high, sinking ships and destroying almost everything in its path, and, folks, in life there are times when we find ourselves right in the middle of a perfect storm.
I mean, in one moment, it's smooth sailing with sunny skies and everything is going great, and then the next moment you find yourself in the middle of a perfect storm, getting hit from all sides by a perfect convergence of overwhelming problems, and it feels like a tidal wave of fear and anxiety just slamming into your life, flooding your emotions.
We're concluding this series that we've been in that I'm calling "Set Your Sails". It's all about learning how to navigate the storms of life because the Bible is real clear that you can't steer clear of the storms that come into every life, and because we live in a very imperfect world, there will be times when we will experience perfect storms, but here's the great news: God has given us an anchor of divine peace that can hold our lives together when the waves of worry hit and the storms of life try to tear us apart. I want us to look at a perfect storm mentioned in the Old Testament. It was a time when the people of Jerusalem and Judah and their godly king found themselves being overwhelmed by a perfect storm, and it caused a tidal wave of fear that almost took them under.
It's in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, and here we see this rare convergence of three enemy armies that unite, and that was really rare because these armies hated each other, but they hated Judah and Jerusalem more. And so, they aligned on a collision course against Jerusalem, and the people of God and their godly king Jehoshaphat were surrounded by this perfect storm of three enemy armies. They were completely outnumbered and overwhelmed. They were against the wind with their back to the wall. The odds were stacked against them, and when they see the reality of their situation, Jehoshaphat and the people start getting pounded by wave after wave of fear.
By the way, I love the name Jehoshaphat. It's so fun to say. Say it with me: Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat, it just relaxes you, you can use it in meditation: Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat. King Jehoshaphat finds himself overwhelmed with fear in this perfect storm. And he follows God with all his heart, but he can't help but feeling overwhelming fear. In fact, the Bible says he was terrified, and you can't help it when fear floods your emotions. It's not a sin to feel fear or anxiety or worry. You can't help, that's just a natural response, and you can't help it when you're flooded with fear, but then you have a choice: you can let it overwhelm your life, or you can take it to God. And right away, Jehoshaphat prays. He brings his overwhelming storm to God, and he prays this simple but powerful prayer. He said, "God, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you".
I love that. God loved it. When you feel overwhelmed by fear, go to God. "God, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you. God, I don't know what to do, but I'm looking to you. I'm not looking within. I'm not looking around. I'm looking up because I need you. I'm overwhelmed. I'm against the wind with my back to the wall. My mind and my heart are flooded with anxiety. I feel like I'm going under. I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you". And God answered the king's prayer, such a simple, powerful prayer, and God spoke to him and the people through the prophet Jahaziel, and I want to look at what God said to them because I believe it's what God is personally saying to us today.
It's in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, and we'll start with verse 15. Would you stand in honor of God's Word? I believe God's gonna speak directly to your hearts exactly what he wants to say through his Word. "He said, 'Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: "Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow, march out against them. But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you"!'"
You can be seated. I don't know what you're facing tomorrow, but some of you really heard it right in your heart, that that thing you're facing tomorrow that seems overwhelming, you go out and you face it because God is with you. Tomorrow's a new day. God is so personal, and if you find yourself surrounded by an overwhelming storm today, God is speaking right into your heart this personal message of hope. He is speaking the perfect thing into your perfect storm. He has the perfect word for your situation. He's telling you what he's going to do to turn your perfect storm into an ocean of blessing. He's telling you what he's going to do to turn your overwhelming fear into overwhelming peace. God tells you what he wants to do, but in this passage he also tells us what he wants us to do when we're surrounded by the storm.
In fact, I want us to do a little study of 2 Chronicles 20. It says in verse 17, "Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you"! The first thing you need to do in the storm is remember God is with you and God is for you. God says when you're overwhelmed by the storm, don't give into discouragement. When you feel overwhelmed, you're immediately hit by a tidal wave of fear, but then quickly those fears start turning into feelings of hopelessness. Those fears create this hopeless feeling in our hearts, and we've all felt hopeless at times.
Some of you feel that way today. Maybe you feel hopeless about a future that's just filled with uncertainty. I mean, you look around at our world today and you read your newsfeed, and, man, there's some bad news out there. Future looks uncertain, and maybe you just feel hopeless about your situation that seems uncertain. Maybe you feel hopeless about your job situation, maybe you feel hopeless about your marriage, maybe you feel hopeless about someone you love, but they never seem to change. And they start to change a little bit, you get your hopes up, and then your hopes are crushed.
Or maybe you feel hopeless to overcome an addiction that just tearing up your life, or maybe you feel hopeless because of an illness and you're thinking, "I'll never get through this. I'll never get through this pain. I'll never get over this". Or maybe the doctors have given you very little hope, or maybe you feel hopeless that you'll ever get married, or you feel hopeless that you'll ever have a child, or you feel hopeless that you'll ever get through this depression that's just overwhelming you. It's like a bear on your back that is always there. We all face situations in our lives that feel hopeless, and God tells the people, "I know it looks hopeless, I know it feels hopeless, but you don't have to give up in discouragement".
You don't have to give into discouragement, why? Because the Lord is with you. The reason we get overwhelmed in the storm and start to seek into hopelessness is because we forget the Lord is with us. We take God out of the picture, and when you take God out of the equation, you ought to feel hopeless. We should feel overwhelmed and hopeless if God's not in the picture, but he is.
If Christ is not in your life, then you ought to feel scared and overwhelmed about the problems in the world today, but if you're a Christ follower, if Christ is with you and in your life, his presence changes everything, and God says to the king and the people of Judah, "Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow because I'm with you". I want you to focus on that command: "Go out against them tomorrow". When we feel discouraged, we feel like withdrawing, we get inward, we start to spiral into hopelessness, and God says, "Don't withdraw when you're overwhelmed". When you're feeling overwhelmed with discouragement, you go out and face your fears. When you feel the wave of hopelessness flood your emotions, don't withdraw. Step out in faith because tomorrow is a new day.
Don't withdraw in discouragement. Tomorrow's a new day. Tomorrow's a new day. Even though you feel afraid, go out tomorrow and face the enemy and remember "I am with you". God is with you in the storm you're going through. Remember, God is with you and God is for you. I love this next promise that really tells us that God is for us and that's all that matters. Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us"? God's for you. Who can be against you? One plus God equals a majority. If you're a believer, God is for you, and if God is for you, you're never outnumbered by your obstacles. God is with you when you're in the storm of fear or a storm of problems or a storm of worry or a storm of depression.
God is with you and he is for you. He's not against you. He not trying to punish you. If you're a Christ follower, he allows the storm sometimes to build our character, but God is for you. He wants the best for you, and when I remember that God is for me, then I start looking at my greatest problem is my greatest possibility for God to work in my life. Your perfect storm is the perfect opportunity to experience a miracle from God. So, remember that God is with you and that God is for you, and tomorrow when you're feeling overwhelmed with whatever you gotta face, just take a step of faith, and God is with you and God is gonna see you through, but secondly, when you're in the storm, don't fight the wind.
Give the battle to God. Usually when the storm hits and the wind is blowing against us, we wanna fight the wind. We try to fight the wind and you can't win that fight. We try to fight our circumstances that we can't control. And in 2 Chronicles 20:15 it says, "Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's". One of the main reasons that we're filled with fear and sink into hopelessness in the storm is because we're trying to fight a battle God never intended for us to fight. We're trying to fight a battle that we can't control. It's so interesting to me that God says in this passage, "Don't be afraid and discouraged by this mighty army".
God didn't say, "Why are you afraid? This isn't an overwhelming army. It's a pathetic army. They're not well trained. They're weak. They're undisciplined. You'll defeat them easily. Why are you afraid"? No, God says, "You're facing a mighty army. They're too strong for you. The battle is too big for you, but it's okay. You don't need to be afraid. I've got this one. This battle is mine. I'm gonna fight for you". God says to you today, "The storms that you're facing, some of those storms are too big for you".
Now, God says, "Go out and fight this battle or that battle," and sometimes God says, "You gotta go fight". You know, "You gotta go out there and be in the fray because I want you, this one is for you to build your character". But there's some battles that are just too big for us. It's too overwhelming. You can't control it. But it's not too big for God. Our powerful God can handle your perfect storm, and some of you are worn out. You feel defeated today because you've been fighting a battle that's too big for you. You're fighting a battle that only God can win, and God is waiting for you to trust in his victory and give the battle over to him. He's waiting to fight for you. God is bigger than your battle. Did you get that? No battle is too big for God. God is bigger than your battle. I don't know what battle it is, but I know this God's bigger than your battle.
Many years ago, the captain of a British ship sailing near Turkey was caught in a huge storm. There's no harbor nearby. So, he let down the anchor, but the wind was blowing so fiercely that it began to drag the anchor. It couldn't get a grip on that sandy sea bed, so the ship kept drifting closer and closer to the rocks. So, the captain dropped the second anchor, but the winds were so strong that both anchors had no power to stop the ship from being dragged closer to the rocks. They only had one anchor left. It was their smallest anchor, and the captain felt like it was useless, but he dropped it anyway, and to his surprise, the chain tightened, the little anchor held the ship fast, and it was able to ride out the storm.
When the water cleared, they could see the smaller anchor got hooked on a large battleship that had been lost years before, and in the overwhelming storms of life, you better be anchored to something that is stronger and bigger than you are. It doesn't matter how big your battle is. If you're anchored to the battleship, I mean, if you're anchored to God that he's gonna hold you strong. No battle's too big for God.
Give the battle over to God, and when you're surrounded by the storm, there's a third thing you have to do: Position yourself for a miracle. This is the principle of positioning, and it's taught all throughout the scripture. In 2 Chronicles 20:17, it says, "But you will not need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory". You give the battle to God, but then you have to take a step of faith and face your fear. You have to take your position. Now, you can't earn or deserve a miracle from God. We can't earn or deserve a single blessing from God. Every blessing that you have is because of God's mercy and grace.
Now, there are principles in God's Word with promises where God says, "If you follow this promise, then I'll do this, I'll bless you in this way," but even when we obey God and that obedience brings blessing, it's not because we earned it or deserve it. It's because of God's mercy and his grace, so you can't earn a miracle, but you can position yourself to receive a miracle from God. You see, if I run ahead of God, then he will give the miracle to where I should've stayed. If God calls me to take a step of faith, and I don't, then the miracle will come where I should have been. And so, we can position ourself for a miracle.
So, the question is, how do you position yourself to receive a miracle from God? Well, the first way is you pray. You position yourself through prayer. It says in 2 Chronicles 23, "Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and he begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting". Jehoshaphat was panicked when he was surrounded in that perfect storm, but that panic forced him to pray, and storms force us to our knees. We're on our knees, were positioned for a miracle from God, and without the perfect storm, we would never get to see the power of God in our lives. You take your position and watch the miracle.
That's what God says here. He says, "Hey, you won't even need to fight, but you gotta take your position. Take your position and stand in that position and you're gonna see my miracle that I do in your life". And God says, "When you pray, you get a front-row seat to see miracles". Without the storm, we wouldn't pray, and without prayer, we would never get to see God do a great work in our lives. That's why God sometimes uses the storm to redirect us and turn us to him, and some of you have been sitting in the back row when it comes to stepping out in faith. I'm not talking about the back row of the building, I'm talking about the back row of faith, and you're missing out on the miracles, but God loves you so much he'll use the storm to shake you out of the nosebleed section to a front-row seat so you'll have a front-row seat to see God work in your life.
There's a beautiful 16th-century prayer that's attributed to the sailor adventurer Sir Francis Drake, and I love this prayer. It says, "Disturb us, Lord. We're too pleased with ourselves when our dreams have come true because we dream too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wilder seas where the storms will show your mastery. We're losing sight of land. We shall find stars. This we ask in the name of our captain, Jesus Christ". He prays, "Disturb us, O Lord".
Have you ever prayed that? I have never prayed that, I will admit it. "God, send a perfect storm my way for your glory and for my good". No, I've never prayed that, and God knows I never will pray that, and that's why he sends those storms at times because he knows that he wants to direct me to himself, to build my character. He wants me to have a front-row seat to see that he'll see me through any storm. So, you position yourself for a miracle when you pray, and then secondly, when you thank God in advance. This is a really interesting passage in 2 Chronicles 20:21. God told the people, "I want you to sing. I want you to take your position and sing". And he says, "I want you to sing".
The praise team and all of the musicians, all of those are playing, all of those who lead in singing, you send them out first, and they go out to meet the enemy army first, why? Because they were expendable, of course. No, that wasn't why. That wasn't why. Pastors would go, "Hey, we're gonna fight a big battle. Hey, praise team, why don't you go out there and see what happens," you know? No, that's not what he was doing. It's 'cause they were so important to lead the people in thanking and praising God in advance, and that's what they did. It says, "This is what they sang: 'Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!' At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves".
Did you get that? At the very moment they began to sing and praise God, the miracle started. You see, before they praised God, the enemy army was still right in front of their face. They probably still felt overwhelming fear. They were still in the storm, but they thanked God and praised God in advance, and I wonder how many miracles we're keeping God from working because we're complaining instead of thanking God. They thank God in the storm, and God turned the storm into a miracle. When we pray, when we thank God in advance, that's faith, and without faith, it's impossible to please God, and thanking God in advance, whether we feel like it or not, it sets in motion a miracle. It opens up the door for God to work a miracle in our lives, and by the way, what did they sing? They sang, "The Lord's mercy endures forever."
And you know what? That wasn't an original song that they wrote. It was a cover song. It was a song that David the psalmist wrote. And so, they took that song and they sang it and they praised God and they thanked God in advance, and at the very moment they began to sing, the miracle started. At the moment you begin to thank God in advance, go, "God, I'm overwhelmed by fear. I don't feel it, I don't see it, because in the storm it's hard to see anything. I don't see the blessing in this storm, but I thank you that you're gonna see me through, I thank you that there's a purpose in it somewhere, I thank you there's a blessing somewhere, I thank you that you're gonna turn this storm into something that changes my life, I thank you. I don't feel it, I don't want it, I don't get it, but thank you, God".
When you thank God in advance, it sets in motion the miracle. And God caused confusion in the enemy armies and they turned on each other, and God's people walked right into the enemy camp and it says they took so much plunder, they couldn't carry it all, and then in 2 Chronicles 20:26 it says, "On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today". Isn't that amazing? It says they went to the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day, that day. It sounds like, Oh, let's go to the Valley of Blessing, but, no, it used to be a valley of fear, and God turned it into a valley of blessing. It was the same valley. I mean, just a few days before, there was a perfect storm there, there was overwhelming fear there, but God took that overwhelming fear, and he turned it into overwhelming peace and blessings.
God changed it, and God can take a perfect storm of fear and turn it into an ocean of blessing. The same ocean that churns 100-foot waves is the same ocean that can be calm and look like glass, and God can turn your tidal wave of fear into an ocean of blessing. In fact, the very storm that you're in, in that storm hides your greatest blessing. The greatest problem that your facing right now is the greatest opportunity for God to work a miracle in your life. Your greatest problem is your greatest possibility. That perfect storm is the perfect opportunity to experience a miracle. God can change that storm of fear into his place of peace, into an ocean of blessing.