The Terror of the Lord

 It is very difficult to protect a country from attacks by their enemies. That is especially true for the United States, even though we have such a powerful military. People can sneak into a country and carry out attacks, like we experienced on September 11. There can be attacks from planes and missiles. Today, we can even experience cyber attacks on the computer networks that run so many important parts of our infrastructure. What is the answer to keeping our country and our citizens safe? I do not think more military can accomplish this, even though I believe we should have strong defense systems. I believe we need what King Jehoshaphat of Judah had in his day. (II Chronicles 17:10) In his day the terror of the Lord was on all of the kingdoms that surrounded Judah, so that they didn't fight against King Jehoshaphat. What happened to cause this condition? Let's see how this happened then and how it can happen now.

King Jehoshaphat returned to the Lord with all his heart, and he followed the Lord as David had done in his lifetime. If we are righteous before God in our actions and our beliefs, God will be pleased, and He will send His protection for us. Also, Jehoshaphat led the people to put away all other gods. At the same time he built up the defenses of the country. God made the economy prosper, and the nations around them saw their strength. That is when the terror of the Lord fell on them. They saw God's blessing on His people. They saw the righteousness and wisdom of their ruler. They knew they could not defeat Judah, so they did not attack. We need the same things in America today. We need leaders who seek the Lord with all their hearts. We need all of our people to turn to the Lord in a great revival, so that many people are saved and changed. Then, we will prosper and be strong in the power of the Lord and in military power. I believe the terror of the Lord will fall on other countries who would attack us at that point. May we all pray that these things would come to pass, and we will be able to live in peace and not conflict. 

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Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 18-20.