In Crisis Counsels we have been tracking a story about a great crisis that confronted the land of Judah in the mid-9^th century B.C. Faced with a huge invasion, King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah looked to God in faith. The musician/prophet Jahaziel proclaimed a message from God — that the people should go forth against the enemy with trust in God, and God would give them the victory. The story continues:

“They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe his prophets.”

II Chronicles 20:20

Believe, urged Jehoshaphat. Yet human beings struggle to believe; and if people struggled with belief in the mid-9^th century B.C., it is a far greater struggle in our culture of doubt! So we need all the more to hear the call of Jehoshaphat – Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe God’s prophets.

In the book we published two years ago entitled, Why Believe, I gave an extensive list of reasons for why it makes sense to believe. But I also noted that belief in God is not simply a matter of accepting the proposition that God is out there. Belief in God involves entrusting oneself to God. It is like taking a leap off a diving board, trusting that the water below will sustain you. It is to this kind of belief that Jehoshaphat was calling the people when he said, “Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established.” In the face of the present time of crisis, we are likewise encouraged to believe – confident that as we entrust ourselves to God we will be sustained by God’s grace and power.

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