![]() They didn’t know what to do but knew they needed him. They stood before God, recounted their impossible situation, admitted their helplessness, and fixed their eyes on him. He called everyone to gather to seek the Lord. Instead, he drove his fear to God through fasting and prayer. Jehoshaphat didn’t let his fear drive a hasty decision. It’s also a great example of what happens when people choose to trust in God. This was the greatest crisis of Jehoshaphat’s reign. The Bible says a great multitude was coming against them. It is the story of Jehoshaphat and the Israelites. Will we turn to him? 2 Chronicles Chapter 20 captures another story of a group of people with a troubling situation that made their hearts downcast. We can reach out to him when our hearts weigh us down. Winter blows in with gorgeous snowfalls, frost-covered limbs, and vicious blizzards. Then fall arrives and brings beauty through different shades of colors but violent wind. In summer, flowers bloom everywhere, and the scent of freshly mown grass joins the scorching heat and high humidity. But we also have forty-mile-an-hour sustained winds and freezing mornings followed by scorching afternoons. In spring, the grass turns green, trees unfurl their leaves, and days grow longer. There are good and bad things about each. As I reach middle age, I’ve learned not to freak out when I feel blue but to sit in it. I thought they would last forever, but they didn’t. When I was a young woman, these moments unnerved me. Sometimes it’s for days, weeks, or months. Sometimes I don’t feel I have time for my soul to be downcast, yet it happens. ![]() I’m especially grateful for the singing birds this spring after a white winter that was way too silent!Įxperiencing a downcast soul is disarming. From the unfolding of springtime, the blaze of the summer heat, the brilliant beauty in the fall, and the barrenness of winter, I’m grateful for the variety these seasons bring. I love living in a part of the world where we experience all four seasons to the extreme. ![]() “Why are you downcast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God for I shall again praise him, my salvation, and my God” - Psalm 42:5 ESV ![]()
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