Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. 

For the battle is not yours, but God's (2 Chronicles 20:15b).

Some Old Testament stories are grim, but they were preserved because each has a lesson for us. Often we can go for years not-getting-it, then one day our eyes are opened to its relevance for our life.

In 2 Chronicles 20 Jehoshaphat and his people are facing enemies bent on war. Since war is the ultimate form of rejection, and since studies have shown that our brain processes rejection the same way it processes physical pain, we can learn something about rejection from Jehoshaphat's story. So let's re-frame this story of war (which we don't often experience) in terms of rejection (which we experience all too often.)

We can think of rejection as an army of hostile words, actions, and thoughts that assemble to attack us, just as the enemy armies assembled to attack Jehoshaphat. This Army of Rejection is menacing, bent on beating us down with lies about who we are.

Here in Chronicles, though, we learn a tactic effective against such an enemy. We can turn wholeheartedly to the Lord, whose acceptance of us is complete, countering the rejection we are facing. We can trust Him, knowing He has our back. We can listen for His guidance and follow it intently. We can even sing “Give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever” with gusto.

Jehoshaphat and his people followed the Lord's guidance—thereby not interfering with God's plan, which was to just let rejection have its way within the ranks of the reject-ers. The reject-ers rejected one another until they all laid dead on the ground. In our case, leaving the words, actions, and thoughts alone with one another can lead to them dying out without completing their lie-delivering mission.

Instead of responding to rejection by falling for its claims, or by pretending it has no impact, or by rejecting the reject-er, we, too, can put all our trust in our Great Accept-er and follow His guidance. After all, God's goal for us is the same as it was for Jehoshaphat:  ... the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side (2 Chronicles 20:30).

Today we live in a culture where rejection is regularly given and then either taken to heart, met with appeasement, or returned in kind.  Which of those three responses comes most readily to you?

What can you learn from Jehoshaphat's experience to change that response?

If you need to know you absolutely are accepted by Jesus, tell Him that. Then anticipate and listen for His response.