2 Chronicles 18:3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah, “Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I am as you are, and my people as your people; we will join you in the war.”
“Choose your battles wisely. If you fight them all, you’ll be too tired to win the ones that really matter.”
We are not expected to fight every battle we face. There are battles to fight but there are also battles that we must walk away as they are not worth expending our energy on. If we try to fight every battle, then, we will become too tired to face and fight the ones that really matter. It is very important not to make the perils of others our problems. As much as the Bible teaches us to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2a), it also teaches us not to allow the weight of others to crush us. It is also important to choose the environment and our friends. Being in the wrong place and engaged with the wrong person is not only dodgy but can also defame and destroy our destiny.
King Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah was a faithful man who loved the Lord. The Lord God blessed Jehoshaphat with great wealth (2 Chronicles 17:5), a large army (vs 20-21) and power to subdue his enemies (vs 12-19). When Jehoshaphat became powerful and prosperous made a marriage alliance with Ahab, the wicked king of Israel. Ahab’s wife Jezebel was a manipulative, ruthless witch who misled Israel into idolatry and loathsome occult practices. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram married Athaliah, daughter of king Ahab of Israel. In the course of time Jehoshaphat went to visit Ahab and while they were celebrating a party together Ahab enticed him into an ungodly dangerous partnership. As a result Jehoshaphat committed to go to war along with Ahab. Ahab disguised himself as an ordinary soldier but induced Jehoshaphat to be in his royal attire and made Jehoshaphat a target to the enemies! Ungodly relationships and partnerships are active explosives that can cause much destruction.
Pick your battles:
1. Environment: The environment we are in will influence our decisions. The people to whom we lend a listening ear will influence our choices and decisions. It is important to move out of environments that are toxic, treacherous and twisted.
2. Engagement: An ungodly marriage alliance would have killed Jehoshaphat if God had not interjected and saved him. When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him (vs 31). Choose your relationships and partnerships carefully.
3. Enemy: It is important to love everyone but it is crucial not to make an alliance or a treaty with those who do not walk in Godly reverential fear. Fellowship with the godless will lure us to walk out of God’s protective radar into the enemy’s territory.
Toxic environment, ungodly engagements lures us into the enemy’s territory.
1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to be discerning to choose the right battles and teach me to disengage from ungodly environments and engagements. Amen.
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