DAY 5

FISH ON…

JOHN MACDONALD, LEAD PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. Jude 1:3

I love family vacations, I always have. I love spending focused time with the family doing things and experiencing things we aren’t able to do and experience living here in Michigan. On our last family vacation, I took Hudson, my oldest son, and his friend Eli out for a deep sea fishing trip. Maddox, my other son, doesn’t like fishing. Instead he opted to stay back with his mom to go clothes shopping—I think he made out alright. One of the fish on Hudson’s bucket list to catch is a Goliath Grouper. The largest Goliath grouper ever caught was over 7 feet long and weighed close to 700 pounds. These fish get big! 

Out on the water that day, something big took the large bait we had lowered down into the deep!  As the pole bent down into the water, the guide yelled “fish on,” and the fight was underway.  Hudson pulled and grunted as he put maximum effort into reeling up the behemoth on the other end of the line. The problem was the grouper was swimming with all its effort straight down in the opposite direction. Both were contending, but for very different outcomes. Hudson wanted to pull the fish to the surface, while the fish pushed its way down into the deep water.

I love this word contend. One definition of contend reads: to strive, wrestle, or fight with intentional effort; especially for something of great worth.

That’s exactly what we’re called to do as believers. We are to contend for intimacy with God. We are to contend for our families, for our children. We are to contend for the lost.

As a pastor, I contend for the presence of the Holy Spirit to fill our church and our community every time we gather—whether in our sanctuary or in someone’s living room. I contend for unity in the body of Christ, for revival fire to burn bright, and for righteousness and holiness in my own life and in the lives of those I’m honored to lead. 

But here’s what the Lord has been showing me: The first act of contending is surrender. 

It sounds backward, doesn’t it? Contending implies strength, grit, effort. Surrender sounds passive. But spiritually, one fuels the other. And there’s a powerful story in 2 Chronicles 20 that illustrates this tension perfectly.

This story involves Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. For the most part, King Jehoshaphat was a really good king who honored the Lord. He made a couple of decisions that I'm sure he regretted but I think we could all probably say that.

In this story King Jehoshaphat faced a terrifying situation: a vast coalition of enemies. The Moabites, Ammonites, and the people of Mount Seir were coming to wipe out Judah. It says in verse 3,

Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.

I love that. The king resolved to seek God first. Instead of reacting in fear or strategizing on his own, he surrendered the situation in prayer, and he called all of Judah to do the same. He gathered the people. The men, women, and children all gathered and prayed a powerful prayer that ended with this humble declaration:

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. (v.12)

This is the very heart of surrender. And the Lord was compelled to respond.

Through a prophet named Jahaziel, the Spirit of the Lord declared:

Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. (v.14–17)

As the Army assembled and headed out for the battle the next morning, what happened next would make no sense to any military strategist. Jehoshaphat didn’t send his fighting men with swords first, he sent the worship team. Literally.

After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him… as they went out at the head of the army saying: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” (v.21)

Again, this doesn’t sound like a military strategy to me. “Hey, send the worship team and singers ahead of us. Yeah, put them out on the front line. They’ll be our first line of defense…the musicians!” Wait, what? Can you imagine the harp players thinking, “Hold on... we're going first?”

But as they began to sing praises, the Lord moved.

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day. (v.22–26)

Wow, I didn't see that coming! The Lord gave Jehoshaphat and all of Judah victory not by lifted swords but by lifted voices in praise! Trust me, I will never take our worship team for granted ever again… I’m sending them in first!

Back to the idea of contending. When we contend for something, we’re fighting for it—standing in the gap, refusing to back down. That’s exactly what Jehoshaphat was doing—fighting for the very survival of his people and his nation. But again what the Lord has been teaching me is the first act of contending is always surrender.

In God’s Kingdom, one empowers the other. Surrender is what gives your contending its strength. Zechariah 4:6 reminds us:

“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord.

God can accomplish more by His Spirit than we could ever dream of achieving in our own strength.

The Lord calls every one of us to contend—for our faith, our families, our church, our future. But the most effective way to contend is to surrender first. We surrender the situations we can’t control. We surrender our kids and our marriages. We surrender what’s most dear to us—and then we contend for God’s mercy, His grace, and for the outcome that brings Him the most glory.

Yes, we still show up. We still pray with boldness and resolve. But we do so knowing the battle is the Lord’s. And when we release the fight into His hands, He moves with power. If we want God’s outcome, it always starts with surrender, is shaped through contending in prayer, and ends with the Lord’s victory.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Hudson did land that Goliath Grouper. He even jumped in the water (hoping there were no sharks nearby!) and got an awesome photo with his 170-pound bucket list Goliath Grouper. A battle worth fighting and one none of us will forget.

PRAYER: Spend some time and surrender to the Lord what you need to surrender, and start contending!  You can begin with the following prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I want to be someone who contends for the right things-but not in my own strength. Teach me what it means to surrender first, to start every battle by looking to You. When I don’t know what to do, help me keep my eyes on You. I give You my family, my church, my decisions, and my future. I take up my position in prayer, in worship, in trust, knowing that You go before me. Fight for me, Lord. I will stand and watch You move. In Jesus’ name, Amen.