Send Your Worship Ahead
There are seasons when you can see the battle coming. You know something is wrong. You know something is changing. You know there are things happening around you that you cannot control, cannot fix, and cannot possibly prepare for on your own.
Maybe it’s your health.
Maybe it’s your marriage.
Maybe it’s one of your children.
Maybe it’s grief, finances, a relationship, a decision, or simply a season that has left you standing in front of something much bigger than you.
A friend and I were talking about Jehoshaphat the other day, and the more we talked about that story, the more I kept thinking about it.
In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat gets word that a vast army is coming against him. What I love is that Scripture doesn’t make him sound fearless or superhuman.
He was afraid.
Faith didn’t mean he wasn’t scared.
It meant he knew where to go with his fear.
Jehoshaphat turned his attention toward the Lord, called the people together, and prayed one of the most honest prayers in Scripture:
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
I think some of us need permission to pray that prayer today.
God, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how this is going to turn out. I don’t know what the next phone call will bring. I don’t know how You’re going to provide. I don’t know how this relationship gets restored. I don’t know what happens next.
But my eyes are on You.
God’s response to Jehoshaphat was incredible. He told them not to be afraid or discouraged because of the size of the army standing against them.
“For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
But then comes the part I can’t stop thinking about. Jehoshaphat still had to go toward the battlefield. God didn’t tell them to pretend the enemy wasn’t there. He didn’t tell them there wasn’t a battle.
He told them that they would not be fighting it alone.
And the next morning, Jehoshaphat did something that made absolutely no military sense.
He sent the worshippers out ahead of the army.
Before the swords.
Before the soldiers.
Before they could see what God was going to do.
They worshipped.
And Scripture tells us that as they began to sing and praise, the Lord moved. Confusion broke out among the armies coming against Judah, and they turned against one another. By the time Jehoshaphat and his people reached the battlefield, the battle had already been fought.
God had gone before them.
Maybe that’s the word for someone today.
God is already in the place you’re afraid of arriving.
He’s already in tomorrow.
He’s already in the conversation you haven’t had yet.
He’s already in the answer you’re waiting for.
He’s already in the room you haven’t walked into.
He’s already working in places you cannot see.
Sometimes we don’t recognize that until later.
We look backward and suddenly realize that something was already being put into place before we even knew we were going to need it.
A person was positioned.
A door opened.
Wisdom was given.
A provision was made.
A relationship was formed.
Something began moving long before we understood why.
And suddenly we realize:
God was already going before me.
I’ve had some moments lately that have reminded me of this. There are things I still don’t understand. Things I’m still waiting on. Things I certainly don’t have neatly wrapped up with a bow. But I’ve also been able to look backward and recognize places where God was already putting things into motion before I understood why I would need them.
And it has reminded me of something:
I don’t have to see the outcome before I worship.
Neither did Jehoshaphat.
The worshippers didn’t praise because the battle was over. They praised while they were walking toward it.
That’s a very different kind of worship.
It’s easy to praise God standing on the other side of the miracle. It’s another thing entirely to worship Him while the army is still in front of you.
To say:
I don’t know how this ends, but I know who You are.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know You’ve already gone there.
I don’t know how You’re going to make a way, but I believe You are faithful.
So today, I’m sending my worship ahead.
Not because I’m denying the battle.
Not because I’m pretending I’m not afraid.
Not because I know how the story ends.
But because I know the One who goes before me.
Maybe you’re standing in front of your own army today.
You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t even have to know what to do. You can borrow Jehoshaphat’s prayer:
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
And then worship.
Worship before the answer.
Worship before the breakthrough.
Worship before you understand.
Worship while you’re still walking toward the battlefield. Because sometimes, by the time you arrive at the place you’ve been so afraid to reach, you’ll discover something extraordinary:
God was there before you ever got there.
Send your worship ahead.
The battle may be in front of you.
But so is your God.