“His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord.”
– 2 Chronicles 17:6
2 Chronicles 17:6 is a simple verse. And significant description of Jehoshaphat, that I’m guessing we all want to be true in our lives. Let me read it again. “His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord.” Don’t we all want courageous hearts in God’s ways? You just think about that. Courage, we don’t want to live lives of timidity and fear.
And we see all over scripture, God constantly saying to his people, “Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed, be strong, be courageous.” His heart was courageous, but there’s all kinds of things we could be courageous in that are not good. If we’re courageous in the ways of the world and we are bold and confident and running after the stuff of this world ,that leads to sorrow and death. But to have a courageous heart in the ways of the Lord, to read scripture and to walk away with courage, to obey. Courage to trust, courage to believe.
God, we pray that we would be by your grace, in your spirit in us, in your word to us, strong and courageous in faith today.
2 Chronicles 17:6 Reminds Us to Pray for Courage
Think about that in your life today. There are some of you who are walking through some really challenging times and it takes a lot of courage to have faith, to trust God when things are really hard and wearying, tiring, exhausting, frustrating, confusing, to have strength and courage to trust God.
Or, maybe when it comes to God’s commands and obedience to his commands, in a world where obedience to those commands will lead us to go totally against the grain of the culture around us and there’s risk, and there’s cost. Whether it’s sharing the gospel and some of the risks that, that might bring in the place where you work. Or, it’s relationships you have. Or, I think about brothers and sisters around the world who are sharing the gospel in really hard places right now.
This Verse Reminds Us of Other Nations
There’s a lot of courage just to speak up. I think about many of our urgent partners in places like Somalia or North Korea. And the courage that’s needed in order to proclaim the gospel, knowing that a prison camp might be coming. Or the courage that is needed knowing that a family member could kill you, if you share the gospel with them.
So, let’s pray this for each other and all kinds of different ways all around the world. God, we ask you for courageous hearts. Please, give us courageous hearts in your ways. Give us the courage to believe your word. Grant us the courage to obey your word today, amidst whatever challenges to courage we are facing. We pray that we would be by your grace, in your spirit in us, in your word to us, strong and courageous and bold and obedient and bold in faith today. May what you said about Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 17:6, “Be true of my life and each of our lives today, their hearts were courageous in the ways of the Lord.” God, may it be so we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
