Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” – 2 Chronicles 20:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 30, 2016): 2 Chronicles 20

Fairy tales and comic books are more important than we sometimes give them credit for being. Consider the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare.” We know the story. The Hare is much faster than the plodding Tortoise. Of course, that also becomes the Hare undoing in the story. In a race between a Tortoise and a Hare, the Hare doesn’t really have to pay attention. The Hare can go for coffee, snooze by the side of the road, and enjoy the day that is in front of him. The Tortoise, on the other hand, has no such luxuries. The Tortoise must be single-minded in what is about to happen. There is no coffee and no “enjoying the day.” In fact, it is quite probable that the Tortoise will do everything right and still lose the race. The Hare is simply that much faster.

Of course, in the story, we know that the Hare loses. The Hare is so confident in his abilities that he feels that he doesn’t have to pay attention to the little things – like making sure that he got over the finish line first. The Moral of the story is simple, but it is also untrue. In reality, slow and steady does not always win the race. It only wins the race when fast are also unable to focus on the task that is in front of them. The Tortoise, at some point, had to admit that there was no way he was going to win the race, but that he would try. This is the real secret of every “David and Goliath” story.

Jehoshaphat finds himself in the middle of his own “David and Goliath” fairy tale. There is no way that he can win against the forces that have lined up against him. And yet, he is not willing to just surrender and give up. He has to try. And so he comes to God with this message. You are God, and I am not. We have no power to do anything, but you do. We have aligned ourselves with you, and at this moment our eyes are on you – only on you. Either you move, or we are defeated. We will do everything that we can do, but in this story, we are the Tortoise and our enemy is the Hare. God, the ending of this story is solely up to you.

It is in this prayer that Jehoshaphat finds the seeds of his victory. And it is also the seeds of ours. How different our lives would be if we simply realized that our hope is only in the God we serve. If not for him, the Goliaths and the Hares in our lives would beat us every time, even though we do everything right. And so, success depends on where we are willing to place our eyes. The win depends on whether we are prepared to follow the path of Jehoshaphat and say to our God – our eyes are on you. We will do our best, but the ending of this story is solely in your hands.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 21