Have you ever promised to do something, and then not known how you would be able to do it? That
happened to an Adventist leader in 1905, more than 100 years ago. His name was John Burden, and he was determined to
follow God’s instructions. For many years, God had given Ellen G. White visions that helped the church and its leaders
know what they should do. In some of those visions, He showed her that the church should have places called
sanitariums. These were something like hospitals, where they could help sick people get well and learn how to stay
well. God would help them find good places they could buy for much less than it had cost to build them.
In southern California, the church had already found and bought two places like that, and Elder Burden
was managing one of them, the Glendale Sanitarium. But Mrs. White said that we should have another sanitarium, in
Redlands, which was also in southern California. Elder Burden began looking around, and he found a place near there,
at a location called Loma Linda. Some investors had built a hotel there and furnished it, investing more than US$
150,000 in it. That was a very big amount of money in those days. But people didn’t come to their hotel, and their
business failed. Our church leaders looked at the property, and they knew it would be just right for a sanitarium. The
owners, though, were asking $85,000 for it, and we could not afford it. But they were desperate to sell it, and so
eventually they offered it for just $40,000!
The problem was, we didn’t have very many church
members in the area at that time (fewer than 1,400 in the whole Conference), and we already owed a lot of money for the
other sanitariums. Most of the leaders didn’t think we could take on more debt. But Elder Burden wrote to Ellen White,
who was thousands of miles (kilometers) away on the other side of the country. He described the property and buildings
to her, asking what they should do. She recognized this as being just what God had shown her we should have. She sent
him a telegram, which was the fastest way to reach someone far away at that time, telling him to “secure the property
at once.” That meant to make an agreement to buy it, and give the owners some money so they would hold it for us. The
church had only a few weeks to do this, or the owners would sell to someone else. By May 26 the church must have a
deposit of $1,000, and that would only hold the property until June 15, when it would need the rest of the first
payment of $5,000. Elder Burden struggled over what to do. The Conference leaders said not to move ahead, but God’s
prophet had told him to do it, so Elder Burden set out to make it happen.
But where would he find
that first $1,000? He and another man took the train to see a farmer some distance away. They thought he might have
money he could give or lend. When they saw him and told him what they wanted, the man said, “Praise the Lord!” He
had been trying to sell his farm, and it had just sold a few days before. He offered $2,400 for the project! This
was enough—and more—to let them make that first deposit in May!
But where would the rest of the
$5,000 June payment come from? They had some money left over from the farmer, but they had only about three weeks to
raise the rest of the amount, or they would lose what they had already paid!
Meanwhile, Ellen
White had returned to California, and she went with some others to see the property at Loma Linda. When she got
there, she said to her son, “I have been here before.”
“No, Mother,” he said. “You have never been
here.”
“Then this is the very place the Lord has shown me,” she replied, “for it is all
familiar.” She turned to one of the ministers and said, “We must have this place.” As they looked together at the
property, over and over she repeated, “This is the very place the Lord has shown me.” In one of the buildings she said
to Elder Burden, “This building will be of great value to us. A school will be established here.”
But they still had to find the rest of the money to buy the property! No one knew how they could raise that much
money. Elder Burden especially felt responsible, because he had started this process by obeying the prophet’s
instructions to arrange the purchase. He asked a number of people for money. One woman decided to lend $1,000 for the
project, even if she might lose it. Another man borrowed $1,000 to help, and Elder Burden must have been very relieved
that they were able to make the June 15 payment on schedule!
The leaders called the members
together to meet at the larger churches. As Ellen White and other prominent leaders spoke in favor of moving ahead,
the people agreed that this was what they should do. Some promised money for it, but not enough of it would be
available in time. The next $5,000 was due July 26. Ellen White wrote letters across the country to people she knew
who might be able to help. (In those days, people didn’t have telephones that let them talk over long distances.)
Some of the leaders suggested that they could sell part of the Loma Linda land to help make the payments, but Ellen
White told them clearly that they should not do that. Elder Burden hoped to get the money from a certain church
member, but sudden problems made that brother go back on his promise. Other money problems were pressing in, as well.
The due date arrived, and they still didn’t have the money. They must pay by 2 p.m., or the deal
would be canceled and they would lose the first $5,000 they had already paid! The Conference Committee met that
morning, and no one knew what to do. But some of those leaders remembered that the prophet had told them to move
ahead, and they believed that something would happen. Then someone reminded them that the morning mail had not yet
come. Maybe their deliverance would be in it. When the mailman came, among the letters was one from way across the
country. A woman there had gotten Ellen White’s appeal and sent $5,000, exactly what they needed! God had put it into
that woman’s heart to respond at precisely the right time. The leaders in that room were sure now that God was in this
project, and they thanked Him for providing.
Elder Burden told what it was like to take that
money to the bank:
“Soon we were at the bank window to pay in the $5,000. As the receipt was taken from the
counter, a voice seemed to say to us, ‘See how nearly you missed that payment. How are you going to meet the next one,
within a month?’ In heart we answered, ‘It will surely come, even though we do not now know the source.’ We thanked
God and took new courage in believing that the Lord was going before us.”
At a camp meeting a few
weeks later, the people were told about the plans for health work in Loma Linda and other places, and of how God had
already been leading. They responded eagerly. Some had money in the bank that they would put toward the project.
Others had land to sell that would give them money to invest. Some gave money as gifts, and some lent money to be
used. Soon the $5,000 for the August payment had come in, and after that they made the December payment—early! Then,
instead of taking three years to pay the other $20,000, as the contract said they could, they paid it all off in six
months! God led people to provide the money they needed.
A sanitarium was started there at Loma
Linda, and then a medical school. Today, there is a big hospital there, and a school to train doctors, nurses,
dentists, and other medical people. And it all began when God gave His prophet a vision, and one man, Elder John
Burden, decided to believe the prophet and obey the vision.
We should follow God’s instructions
by His prophets, too—in the Bible, and also in the writings of Ellen G. White. God will bless us as we do.
Based on Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Later Elmshaven Years 1905-1915, pp. 11-32.
“Here me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established;
believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 2 Chronicles 20:20, NKJV.
INTRODUCTION
No matter who we are, we will surely face a crisis sometime in our lives.
It could be an individual crisis or a corporate crisis of some kind, but it will come.
Times will come when an
unpredictable event or the unforeseen consequences of some event will require us to make decisions quickly, if only to
avoid the negative effect or damage brought about by such an event.
All kinds of situations can trigger these
crises. The loss of a job, a decline in the national economy, a state of war, an accident, sickness, the sudden death
of loved ones, all can lead to a crisis.
Everyone, then, needs skills in coping with crisis. The need is so
universal that theologians have even devised a system they call crisis theology.
But crises are not necessarily
evil. Much good can come out of a crisis. At AIIAS Theological Seminary in the Philippines there are many graduate
students from China. One day in class, a teacher asked the Chinese students about the Mandarin word for crisis. The
students replied that the Mandarin word for crisis is composed of two characters “Wei Zei,” symbolizing “danger” and
“opportunity.”
The Chinese are absolutely correct. Crisis brings dangers, but it also offers opportunities.
This probably is one reason why many Chinese are so successful in business, because they see opportunities behind
every danger.
This morning we shall discover five biblical principles for crisis management—strategies for
turning dangers into opportunities. Let us learn from the experience of one of the great kings of Judah; King
Jehoshaphat, recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.
This narrative is a feel-good story. The ending is great. Having
gone through the crisis, King Jehoshaphat emerged victorious (v. 24), richer (v. 25), happier (v. 27); the kingdom
became more prosperous and peaceful (v. 30); above all, God’s name was honored and glorified (v. 29). How did these
things come about? What strategies, if any, did Jehoshaphat employ to survive the crisis so successfully?
Let
us turn to the story and see what we can discover.
“It happened after this that the people of Moab with the
people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jeshoshaphat” (2 Chron. 20:1).
War always brings a crisis. The crisis may be intensely personal, and all the more so if you are the leader of a
nation involved in the war.
This was no ordinary war. The enemy was a coalition, “a vast army” (v. 2, NIV)
which was now about to surround the capital city Jerusalem. This required immediate action. Strategic decisions had
to be made. If you were Jehoshaphat, what would you have done?
The Bible records that King Jehoshaphat’s
initial reaction was that he “feared” (v. 3). He was afraid.
We don’t have much respect for a leader who is a
coward. But fear is a normal reaction in times of crisis. Don’t feel bad when you experience fear in a crisis. It
was Julius Caesar who said that “no one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.” Fear can even
be positive if this leads us to God.
So with this in mind, we notice that later in this narrative the first
command of God’s spokesperson, the prophet Jahaziel, to King Jehoshaphat is, “Do not be afraid” (v. 15). It has been
said that the counsel “Do not fear” occurs 365 times in the Bible, enough for each day’s quota of fearful
situations.
We believers are not exempt from fear, but we have a God to whom we can take our fears! This brings
us to our first principle in dealing with a crisis:
I. SEEK GOD’S WILL FIRST AND
FOREMOST
Here is the first key to the success of Jehoshaphat in this crisis. He “set himself to seek
the Lord” (v. 3). This was not a half-hearted seeking. The words “set himself” denote intentionality, resolve,
purposefulness, sincerity in seeking God. King Jehoshaphat also commanded the people to fast (v. 3), another indicator
of the depth of the crisis and the intensity of this primary response—seeking God.
This first principle or
strategy for surviving a crisis was not foreign to Jehoshaphat. Seeking God first and foremost when making decisions
was natural to Him. You remember his experience with Ahab, the King of Israel based in Samaria? Let’s go back to 2
Chronicles chapter 18 to review the story.
“Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and by marriage he
allied himself with Ahab” (18:1). Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, was married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and
Jezebel. So the two kings are related by the marriage of their children.
Verse 2 tells us that King
Jehoshaphat went for a state visit to Ahab in Samaria. He was received well by Ahab, who held a big state banquet for
him. During the banquet, however, Ahab succeeded in convincing Jehoshaphat to go to war against the king of Syria over
the territory of Ramoth Gilead.
In a moment of weakness Jehoshaphat hastily agreed to join the war. “I am as you
are . . . ; we will be with you in the war” (18:3). Realizing later how unstudied and hasty his decision had been, he
said to Ahab, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?” (18:6). This question
shows the real Jehoshaphat. Whenever he had to make big decisions, he would inquire of the Lord.
But against
the true prophetic voice of God’s prophet Micaiah, both Ahab and the reluctant King Jehoshaphat engaged the Syrians in
battle. The result was a disaster. Ahab was killed, and Jehoshaphat himself narrowly escaped death. But his habit of
seeking the will of God first and foremost saved the day for Jehoshaphat. Were it not for this, his unholy alliance
with Ahab could have brought him fatal disaster.
“Then Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned safely to his house
in Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help
the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless good things
are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have PREPARED YOUR HEART TO SEEK GOD.”
2 Chron. 19:1-3.
Jehoshaphat survived the crisis victoriously because he sought God sincerely. His was a
God-first policy. He set his heart on seeking God.
II. FACE THE CRISIS BASED ON
GOD’S AGENDA
The second secret or key to Jehoshaphat’s success through crisis can be gleaned from
2 Chron. 20:5: “Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord.”
This response of Jehoshaphat to the crisis is amazing. This strategy is worth emulating. You see, the cause of this
crisis was secular—political in nature. It would have been natural for Jehoshaphat to stay in the palace, consult
with his military advisers, and strategize against the enemy in the war room. Instead, Jehoshaphat went to the
temple! What a crazy idea! Jehoshaphat was not yet in such a desperate situation that he had to come to this
“extreme” measure. From the human point of view, he had all the resources he needed to solve the issue.
In
chapter 17 of 2 Chronicles, we are told that King Jehoshaphat was powerful (v. 12). Even the traditional enemies paid
him tribute (vv. 10, 11). He had a large, powerful army of 1,160,000 soldiers (2 Chron. 17:12-17). The morale of the
people was high because of his social, educational, and judicial reforms. But instead of relying on these resources,
he went to the temple and started solving the problem there.
In other words, he faced the crisis with an
intention to fulfill God’s agenda. He was determined to solve the problem in a manner aligned to God’s will. God’s
will was the North star in his decision-making. God’s presence was paramount to Jehoshaphat. “His heart took delight
in the ways of the Lord” (17:6). He personally instituted revival campaigns that encouraged the people to follow
God’s agenda. For example, he instructed the judges whom he appointed to lead the people: “Thus you shall act in the
fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart” (See 2 Chron. 19:4-6, 9).
The commitment to face the crisis
with the intention of following God’s agenda was the second secret of Jehoshaphat’s success. This will bring success
to us as well. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Prov. 3:5, 6.
Ellen White wrote:
“God was the strength
of Judah in this crisis, and He is the strength of His people today. We are not to trust in princes, or to set men in
the place of God. We are to remember that human beings are fallible and erring, and that He who has all power is our
strong tower of defense. In every emergency we are to feel that the battle is His. His resources are limitless, and
apparent impossibilities will make the victory all the greater.” Prophets and Kings, p. 202.
III. PRAY SINCERE PRAYERS OF SURRENDER AND COMMITMENT
The third secret of Jehoshaphat
is simple: prayer. We cannot overemphasize prayer. Prayer is absolutely necessary during times when we have to make
crucial decisions. But the prayer of Jehoshaphat is no ordinary prayer. Let us read the prayer in 2 Chron.
20:6-12.
(6) “O Lord God of our Fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of
the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? (7) Are You not
our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of
Abraham Your friend forever? (8) And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, (9)
‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your
presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ (10) And
now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the
land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them— (11) here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw
us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. (12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we
have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon
You.”
What a prayer! This is a prayer of surrender—not to the enemy, but to God. King Jehoshaphat had
power (he led an army of 1,160,000 soldiers). But He did not rely on his power or his wisdom. He relied completely
on the Lord. Many a time it is in this aspect that we fail. When we come to the Lord in prayer, we come with
“proposals,” expecting God to approve them. Not King Jehoshaphat—he trusted God completely. “‘Not by might nor by
power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).
I think God was very pleased with Jehoshaphat’s
prayer. I can almost hear Him say, “Now I can take over; I can now carry out my plans; I can now fully fight the
battle for Jehoshaphat.”
So we have seen Jehoshaphat’s first three principles for dealing with a crisis: 1.
Seek God’s will first and foremost. 2. Face the crisis based on God’s agenda. 3. Pray sincere prayers of surrender and
commitment. But in this narrative, these three principles are not yet the “tipping point” that turned the crisis into
victory. It is the next principle, the fourth principle, that transforms the danger into an opportunity. The fourth
principle, then, is
IV. OBEY THE WILL OF GOD EXPRESSED THROUGH THE GIFT OF
PROPHECY
To see this in action, let us read verses 14-17.
(14) Then the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons
of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. (15) And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude,
for the battle is not yours, but God’s. (16) Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of
Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. (17) You will not need to fight
in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and
Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”
This is the
apex of the crisis. To King Jehoshaphat, this is the point of no return. What will he do with the expressed will of
God through the prophetic voice of Jahaziel? I suppose many among King Jehoshaphat’s advisors tried to discount the
authenticity of the messenger of the Lord. I can hear them saying, “You don’t have to listen to Jahaziel. Who is he,
anyway? He does not have the credentials of a prophet like Moses or David. He has not done miracles. He doesn’t
have much education. He also had quarrels with his wife sometimes.” By pointing to the prophet’s humanity, such
people try to discredit the message. But God spoke through Jahaziel. This is the one thing that matters. The ultimate
qualification of a prophet is God’s choice.
King Jehoshaphat may well have struggled as he made his decision.
Should he listen to this prophetic voice? Finally, I can imagine him saying, “God said it, and I believe it. That’s
enough for me. Let us follow the voice of God.”
That decision to follow God’s will expressed through the gift
of prophecy led King Jehoshaphat to obey, even if the message might have seemed unreasonable, illogical, and
irrational. Why? What was God’s specific command in response to the crisis? Read it again: “Go down against them”
(v. 16). That’s normal. That’s expected. But the next commands, “Do not fight,” and “Stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord” (v. 17), are beyond normal. From a human standpoint, this borders on the irrational.
If
you or I had been one of the king’s military generals, we would likely have questioned the logic of such a strategy.
Humanly speaking, it would be better to wait for the enemy to come closer to Jerusalem, where we could defend it,
behind the walls. Logistically, it would have been perfect. Their war provisions were stored there. Their wives
and children were securely sheltered there. But if the defenders go out of the city, they will be vulnerable to the
attacks of the invading army. Besides, why face the enemy if you don’t intend to fight? Preposterous!
But the
king decided to follow the specific command of the Lord. I imagine it was not a popular decision. But if you are
with God, you will always be in the real majority. I can almost hear the king say, “Let us follow the Lord, even if
we don’t fully understand.” This was the decision that turned the danger into an opportunity. Faith triumphed over
fear. This is precisely the reason why King Jehoshaphat spoke this famous verse: “Believe in the Lord your
God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper” (2 Chron. 20:20).
Many
times, God will challenge us to make decisions based on faith so that He can perform miracles in our lives. The
prophet Elisha told Naaman the leper to dip seven times in the Jordan, and when he obeyed, he was healed (2 Kings
5:1-19). Gideon and his 300 were miraculously victorious because, although at first he was skeptical, he believed and
obeyed God. Joshua led the Israelites in a series of processions around Jericho city in faith, with the result that
the walls of the great city came tumbling down. Obedient faith leads to miraculous victories.
In the early
1900s, the Seventh-day Adventist movement was threatened from within by powerful and popular leaders who began to teach
that God was a kind of impersonal force in everything and everyone, and that every human being was a “living temple”
where He dwelt. This took away the personal nature of God and undermined our sanctuary doctrine. The faithful
leaders did not know what to do, but in 1903 God gave Ellen White a vision of a ship headed straight for a dangerous
iceberg. The crew heard an authoritative voice say, “Meet it!” They steered straight into the iceberg at full power,
struck it with a terrible force, and the iceberg broke up. The ship was damaged, but not beyond repair, and it moved
on through. Recognizing the application to the church, Ellen White immediately wrote to the faithful leaders,
encouraging them to take a firm stand and meet the false teachings firmly. They obeyed the prophetic counsel, and the
church was saved.
Obedient faith turns a crisis into an adventure. The Bible tells us of Jehoshaphat, “And when
he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of
holiness, and they went out before the army and were saying: ‘Praise to the Lord, for His mercy endures forever’” (2
Chron. 20:21).
See what faith can do! A choir leads an advancing army into battle—a battle that they do not
even fight! Only those who have faith can devise such a strategy.
Obedient faith results in complete victory.
The Lord did it all for the faithful. Not a single Israelite sword left its scabbard, not a single arrow flew from the
camp of Israel, not a single drop of Israelite blood was shed; the Lord of hosts did it all for them. (See v. 24.)
“Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir,
who had come against Judah; and they were DEFEATED” (v. 22).
The Bible tells us how this happened: “For the
people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when
they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another” (v. 23).
On occasion, as in
this case, obedient faith results in abundant material blessings. The Bible says that when the people went to gather
the spoils of war, there was “more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because
there was so much” (v. 25). A whole army collecting valuables for three days, and they could not carry it
all. Incredible! What a miracle!
Obedient faith results in a contented, joyous life. “Then they returned,
every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the
Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies” (v. 27).
Obedient faith results in peace and rest. “And the
kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side” (v. 30, NIV).
For the
remainder of Jehoshaphat’s 25-year reign as king, no one made war against him.
Finally, obedient faith brings
glory and honor to God. “The fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had
fought against the enemies of Israel” (v. 29).
What a successful evangelistic campaign it was! This is the
essence of all mission—that God’s name is honored and glorified.
Crisis indeed has become success. Danger has
been turned to opportunity.
This brings us to our last principle for crisis management:
V. RETURN THE GLORY, HONOR, AND PRAISE TO GOD
Many times we emerge successful from one
crisis but are overcome by the next. Why is it that some of our victories are not sustained?
Although in the
latter part of King Jehoshaphat’s life he experienced business failure (again because of an unholy alliance, this time
with the evil King Ahaziah, the successor of Ahab [see 2 Chron. 20:35-37]), overall his life was a success. The Bible
says, “He walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of
the Lord” (2 Chron. 20:32). The last secret for Jehoshaphat’s success in a crisis is this: He returned the glory,
honor, and praise to God after each victory.
“Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with
Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy. . . . So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed
instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord” (vv. 27, 28).
Crisis should not only end in
success, it should end in worship.
It might have been normal for Jehoshaphat to celebrate the victory at the
palace. But where did he go instead? To the temple! Celebration it was indeed, but it was not done on the dance
floors, in the wine shops, or on the parade grounds after the procession in the main streets of the city. It was a
celebration of worship in the temple. This made the success a sweet-smelling savor for the Lord.
CONCLUSION
Let’s review Jehoshaphat’s secrets in overcoming the crisis. They
constitute God’s formula for success in our crises.
- Seek God’s will first and
foremost.
- Face the crisis based on God’s agenda.
- Pray sincere prayers of surrender and
commitment.
- Obey the will of God expressed through the gift of prophecy.
- Return the glory,
honor, and praise to God.
The Lord of Hosts fights our life’s battles. But He needs us to
seek His will sincerely, rely on Him completely, obey His word absolutely, and attribute to Him the glory and praise
continually, so that He may grant us success. Will you follow Jehoshaphat in these principles, that God may lead and
guide and bless you also? Jehoshaphat’s challenge to his people is a challenge for us, too:
“Have faith in the
Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in His prophets and you will be successful.” 2 Chron. 20:20, NIV.
Amen.