I felt particularly helpless this week. It really isn't a desperate situation - definitely not an emergency - not the end of the world - we are just stuck in a situation that seems unfixable. This situation is really more a test of my patience than anything, but sometimes that can really make me squirm!

As I tossed the details around in my brain, a thought surfaced - I remembered a verse that really resonated with me when I heard it the first time and so I had it tucked in for when I needed it. I guess you could say this particular verse is "hidden in my heart"!

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

2 Chronicles 20:12

When I first read this verse, I knew it was a special one to memorize because it described how I often feel - and how I want to respond when I find myself in that helpless place.

As I reflected on this verse yesterday, I decided to review the entire passage. This would be a great time to pull out your Bible, or you can click the link here to open 2 Chronicles 20.

You may want to go back even further to get the full context, but here we find Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. He has just discovered that a great army is headed his way to defeat him, and this is where we can glean our first lesson when we don't know what to do:

#1 Ask God

"Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord"

2 Chronicles 20:3

I am so glad that the author of Chronicles gave us a description of Jehoshaphat's feelings at the beginning of the verse! How often do we find ourselves in that posture? ALARMED - I feel that way often. Sometimes it is simply because I have just gotten a dose of reality. But Jehoshaphat responds to his feelings with the determination to ask God what to do.

What happens next is a powerful reminder that how I come to the Lord can make a difference in my own heart and in the hearts of those around me. Take notice of the next lesson:

#2 Remember Who God Is and What He Has Done

“Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you."

2 Chronicles 20:6

When we speak God's character and history out loud, we remind our hearts of His power and might. We turn our focus from ourselves to Him and we are aligning ourselves with His purposes. We see many times in Scripture where God acts while His people are praising Him. We not only encourage our own hearts when we praise the Lord, we encourage others who get the opportunity to see God in action as He is highlighted by our praise. In this case, Jehoshaphat has called together all the people and He begins by reminding God, himself, and the others who God is and what He has done.

The next thing Jehoshaphat does is one of the most difficult lessons for us to embrace:

#3 Recognize My Weakness

"We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us."

2 Chronicles 20:12

It may seem counterintuitive to admit weakness in a situation that calls for power - this is certainly the opposite of what our society tells us do - but until we are willing to submit the situation to the only One who truly has power, we are simply in the way. Paul reminds us of this very attitude when He shares the words Jesus spoke to him in a time of weakness, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Recognizing our own weakness in the light of God's power enables us to step back and submit to the work God is doing - and opens the door for others to recognize it as well!

Once Jehoshaphat recognized God's power and confessed the lack of his own power, he did something that I often forget to do:

#4 Wait!

"All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord."

2 Chronicles 20:13

I find it interesting that Scripture does not tell us how long they waited. I'm sure there is a reason for that ;-) but what it does say is "Then". "Then the Spirit of the Lord..."

When I do inquire of the Lord, do I wait for His response? Even when I say "my eyes are on you" do I keep my eyes on the Lord? When I ask, and then step out on my own without waiting on the Lord's response, I am really saying that I am not interested in what God has to say.

However, when God speaks we must be willing to accept His answer even when it doesn't seem logical. Let's take a look at Jehoshaphat's response to God's answer:

#5 Act in Faith

"Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”

2 Chronicles 20:20

We could pull this verse out and use it to justify "stepping out in faith", but we must remember that Jehoshaphat's actions are in response to WHAT GOD SAID. They inquired, they waited, and God spoke! Even when God tells us what to do, we are sometimes afraid to do what He says, but we can be assured that God will always do what He says He will do.

And - we do have clear instructions from the Bible on what to do no matter the answer:

#6 Thank God!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

2 Chronicles 20:21

Thanking God is often a natural response once our prayers are answered and we see the results but this is not actually what God prescribes for us. We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to "give thanks in all circumstances" and Philippians 4:6 tells us, "in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

In Jehoshaphat's situation, he did just that! The passage tells us that Jehoshaphat appointed people to sing praises and thank God "as they went" and that God fought the battle for them "as they began to sing and praise"!

What a lesson for me today. From the beginning of writing this post, something I penned sparked another passage I have hidden in my heart from James 1. My memory is from the Children's Living Bible translation I was given as a little girl. I hope these words resonate with you today as you think about your own situations when you don't know what to do.

"Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.

If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer."

James 1:2-8 (TLB)

Funny isn't it? Grow is my word for 2026! God has a way of tying it all together friends - stay tuned as I have my eyes on the LORD to see what He is up to <3