When We Don't Know, Our Eyes on God

Jun 28, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Fear Moves Us to Sing Instead of Scramble

Fear can push us toward panic or control, but worship realigns our posture. Jehoshaphat’s army marched into battle singing, not strategizing. Their praise became their weapon, their obedience a declaration of trust. Worship doesn’t ignore the crisis—it reorders reality around God’s power. When we lift our eyes from the problem to the Problem-Solver, fear loses its grip. Singing in the darkest valley proclaims who holds the future. [01:10:08]

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so they were routed.” (2 Chronicles 20:21–22, ESV)

Reflection: What crisis feels overwhelming today? How could worship—even through tears—shift your focus from the size of the problem to the certainty of God’s love?

Day 2: The Gift of Not Knowing What to Do

Helplessness feels like failure, but it’s fertile ground for dependence. Jehoshaphat’s admission—“we don’t know what to do”—became the doorway to divine intervention. Uncertainty strips away the illusion of control, forcing us to lean into God’s track record. The most dangerous prayer isn’t confusion; it’s self-sufficiency. Our “I can’t” meets God’s “I AM” at the crossroads of surrender. [01:06:12]

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you clinging to control instead of confessing confusion? How might admitting “I don’t know” free you to receive God’s unexpected solutions?

Day 3: Drifting in Calm Waters

Complacency creeps in when storms subside. Jehoshaphat’s post-victory alliances reveal how success can dull spiritual vigilance. Drift happens not in the crisis but in the quiet—when answered prayers collect dust. Daily dependence isn’t just for emergencies; it’s the lifeline that keeps our hearts tethered to God in peace and chaos alike. [01:14:03]

“Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1, ESV)

Reflection: What spiritual habits have faded since your last crisis? What small step today could reanchor your heart to God’s presence in the calm?

Day 4: Holding God to Promises He Actually Made

We distrust God when we confuse our expectations with His guarantees. Jehoshaphat anchored his prayer to God’s covenant faithfulness, not preferred outcomes. God’s unchanging character—not our wishlist—fuels enduring trust. His promises may look different than our scripts, but they always lead to life. [01:00:04]

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you felt disappointed with God? How might separating His actual promises from your unmet expectations renew your trust?

Day 5: Cattle on a Thousand Hills and Your Empty Wallet

Financial anxiety shrinks God to accountant size. Jehoshaphat remembered God owns everything—cattle, hills, battles. Our bank statements don’t limit Heaven’s resources. Trust grows when we trace God’s past provision: the unexpected check, the reduced bill, the daily bread. Each becomes a stone in the altar of remembrance. [48:56]

“For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50:10, ESV)

Reflection: What financial worry keeps you awake? How has God provided before in ways that didn’t depend on your spreadsheet?

Sermon Summary

Jehoshaphat stands before a crisis he cannot solve and lets fear drive him to the right place. The text shows him refusing both despair and hurried self-reliance. Instead, he sets his face to seek the Lord, gathers the people, and prays before he plans. The king begins not with the threat but with God. Verse 6 rises with the confession that God rules the nations, holds power and might, and cannot be withstood. That vision shrinks the problem to size. Beginning prayer with worship does not flatter God into action, it centers the heart so the request comes from faith and not panic.

Jehoshaphat then leans on what God has already done. Verses 7 to 11 rehearse the Lord’s past faithfulness to Abraham’s descendants and to the land. That memory pushes back the lie that this moment is unprecedented and unaddressed. The pattern matters. Doubt often springs from holding God to promises he never made. The covenant never guaranteed uninterrupted health, instant marriage, or a pain free life. It did promise God’s nearness, provision, and ultimate restoration, even if some healings wait for the resurrection.

Verse 12 brings the center line. The king admits helplessness and prays, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Honest limits become the doorway to real dependence. Maturity does not deny weakness, it names it and turns it Godward. That confession does not freeze obedience. Trust moves. The people bow in worship, then rise early and go to the battle line. They even go singing. As the praise begins, God sets the ambush and routs the enemy. The people lift no sword and spend three days gathering spoil. God does what they could never engineer, and worship proves wiser than worry.

The narrative adds a needed caution. After a season of deliverance, Jehoshaphat later leans on alliances and leaves high places standing. He drifts. Calm seasons test allegiance as much as crisis does. Better to not know what to do with eyes fixed on God than to think everything is under control with eyes off of him. At the Table, Christ himself becomes the pattern and the pledge. Left to themselves, sinners cannot save, conquer guilt, or earn favor. Christ fights the battle they never could. Communion trains the church to keep saying the prayer of verse 12 and to keep looking to the Savior who is faithful and sovereign and good.

Key Takeaways

1. Start prayer with God’s sovereignty Begin with who God is before naming what feels impossible. Adoration is not a preface to the real work of asking, it is the reorientation that makes asking sane. Seeing the One who cannot be withstood resets fear and shrinks swollen problems back to their true size. Pray worship first, then petition. [46:29]
2. Rehearse God’s past faithfulness Memory is a weapon against panic. Recall answered prayers, ancient mercies, and the blood-anchored promises already given, not the ones imagined. Faith grows when yesterday’s providence is carried into today’s trial and tomorrow’s unknown. Keep a record so the heart has evidence to answer its fear. [50:24]
3. Confess limits, fix eyes on God Helplessness is not failure, it is entrance to dependence. Naming limits clears the space where trust can breathe and act. “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” is both confession and direction. That sentence belongs in the mouth before every meeting, diagnosis, and decision. [66:12]
4. Worship and obey while waiting Dependence is not passivity. Bow low, then get up early and walk to the line God names, even when the stomach knots. Singing on the way to battle is not denial, it is faith dressed for the day. Obedience in motion often meets providence in action. [70:08]
5. Guard against drifting after rescue Deliverance can breed complacency if gratitude cools. Success tempts the heart to trade prayer for alliances and worship for convenience. The calm can be more spiritually dangerous than the storm. Keep attention fixed on what has been heard, lest the soul slowly slide. [73:28]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[33:16] - Reading Jehoshaphat’s crisis
[35:13] - When life leaves no plan
[39:31] - Seeking the Lord first
[40:13] - Thesis: prayer over planning
[42:04] - Acknowledge God’s sovereignty
[46:29] - Begin prayers with worship
[50:24] - Appeal to God’s faithfulness
[54:32] - Why faithfulness gets questioned
[59:31] - Promises God did not make
[61:03] - Admit helplessness: verse 12
[67:16] - Trust: worship then obey
[70:08] - Singing into the battle
[72:30] - Postscript: the drift danger
[78:18] - Communion: eyes on Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
2 Chronicles 20:1-30 (ESV)
The story of Jehoshaphat’s crisis, prayer, and God’s deliverance.

Observation Questions

What did Jehoshaphat do first when he heard about the approaching armies, and what does this reveal about his response to fear? (2 Chronicles 20:3)
In his prayer (vv. 6-12), how does Jehoshaphat frame God’s character before asking for help?
What specific action did the people take after praying, and how did God respond? (vv. 21-22) [01:10:08]
What warning does the postscript about Jehoshaphat’s later alliances give us? (vv. 35-37)

Interpretation Questions

Why might beginning prayer with worship (vv. 6-9) change how we view our problems? How does this contrast with starting prayer by listing requests? [46:29]
Jehoshaphat says, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v. 12). How does admitting helplessness actually strengthen faith rather than weaken it?
The people went into battle singing (v. 21). What does this act of worship in the midst of uncertainty teach about obedience and trust? [01:10:08]
Why might seasons of calm or success (like after Judah’s victory) be spiritually dangerous? How does this connect to Hebrews 2:1?

Application Questions

What practical step could you take this week to begin prayers with worship (e.g., listing God’s attributes, singing) instead of jumping to requests? [46:29]
When have you seen God’s faithfulness in your life or others’ lives? How could writing these down help you “rehearse” them in future trials? [50:24]
Identify a situation where you feel stuck or powerless. How might praying, “I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on You,” shift your perspective? [01:06:12]
Singing preceded Judah’s victory (v. 21). What song, hymn, or Scripture could you meditate on before facing a current challenge?
Reflect on a time God answered a prayer. Have you drifted into self-reliance or complacency since then? What habit could help you stay dependent? [01:13:28]
How could you intentionally “fix your eyes” on Christ (Hebrews 12:2) in daily decisions this week, like work, parenting, or relationships?

Sermon Clips

47s

#EyesOnGodWhenAfraid

“``So when fear comes and it will, you don't have to know what to do, you just have to know where to turn. That's to the Lord. So every week the Lord's Supper teaches us to pray these same things that Jehoshaphat is talking about here. Left to ourselves, we just do not know what to do. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot conquer sin. We cannot remove our guilt. We cannot earn God's favor. So God doesn't tell us to go save ourselves, but instead he sent his son to do for us what we can never do ourselves. I don't know what to do, my eyes are on you. I can't save myself, God, but my eyes are on you. And so, this table here we come, not as the people who have everything figured out, but as the people who have figured out where to look.”

37s

#StartPrayersWithWorship

“My eyes aren't on situation. My eyes aren't on the army. Now, of course, he knew the army was coming, but he says, ultimately, my eyes aren't on the armies, they're on you. Because he knew God's power. application point, begin your prayers with God, not your problem. Begin your praying about talking about God and who he is and what he's done and not just go straight to the problem. In other words, start worshiping God in your prayers before you start asking him for things.”

36s

#PrayBeforeEveryDecision

“It was that God's people learned to trust him for a season. Unfortunately, they drifted. So, we should all make a habit of praying this prayer. Lord, I don't know what to do but my eyes are on you. Before you walk into an important meeting, before difficult conversation, before making major decisions, when anxiety rises, before going to sleep, before opening the news, before checking the bank account or your investments, before walking into the doctor's office. Lord, I'm not sure what's going on, but my eyes are on you.”

40s

#PrayerOverPlans

“So before he gathered an army, he gathered God's people. Before he formed a plan for battle, he fell to his knees in prayer. This is what he's doing. And in that prayer, he utters one of the most beautiful lines in all of scripture here, and that is in verse 12, when he says, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. Which that's gonna lead to our thesis this morning. When we don't know what to do, our greatest need is not a plan, it's prayer.”

38s

#ChoosePrayerNotPanic

“But fear has a way of moving us. But but the thing about this text here in front of us today is that Jehoshaphat, he chooses a completely different path. He doesn't go to despair and he doesn't go to self reliance either. He chooses a completely different path. Instead of surrounding, surrendering excuse me, to despair and scrambling up or scrambling to solve the crisis himself, what does verse three say? It says, then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord. He set himself to seek the Lord here.”

45s

#FearIsRealButSeekGod

“And so, verse three here begins with this admission here. It says, then Joseph had Jehoshaphat was afraid. Even this godly king and and for the most part, he was a good king of Judah. We're gonna see where he made some mistakes, but for the most part, he was really good. But even this godly king experienced fear. And so, the issue isn't whether we experience fear. The issue is where that fear takes us. Because fear has a way of moving us and for some people, fear tends to lead us to despair,”

48s

#AdmittingIDontKnow

“have you ever been in a situation where you just honestly, did not know what to do? Just did not know what to do. Maybe you get a doctor's diagnosis, what's the next step? What do we do now? Maybe you're dealing with a child that is making very bad decisions. Doesn't matter the age of the child but you're like, what do we do now? I remember as a kid, I kinda figured that my parents had all the answers and they just knew what to do. And then you grow up and you realize that is not the case.”

40s

#GodSovereignOverAll

“And so, he says, you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. This is a king praying that, so he's recognizing that God is sovereign over his own leadership, over his own dominion. And, he understands that God is in complete power and complete control. And so, he's he's acknowledging that this is where he goes to first. And and so, when we find ourselves in a situation where we're uncertain or we're disappointed or we're discouraged or we're tending towards despair or we're we're we're just completely don't know what to do.”

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Memorial Baptist Church Media This sermon · AI assistant

When unsure, is prayer more necessary than plans?

How does recalling God's faithfulness shape our prayers?

Why confess helplessness before God rather than self-reliance?

When We Don't Know, Our Eyes on God

Devotional

Day 1: When Fear Moves Us to Sing Instead of Scramble

Day 2: The Gift of Not Knowing What to Do

Day 3: Drifting in Calm Waters

Day 4: Holding God to Promises He Actually Made

Day 5: Cattle on a Thousand Hills and Your Empty Wallet

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

When We Don't Know, Our Eyes on God

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