When God Speaks

I have been doing some reading in 1 &2 Kings and found an interesting set of stories in Chapter 20 of 1 Kings. King Ahab, one of the worst ever kings of Israel, was challenged by Ben Haddad, king of Syria.  With some resistance verbally, Ben Haddad said he would reduce Israel to dust (I am shortening the story).  King Ahab replied, "Let not the soldier who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes his armor off."  That was a clever retort, but one that Ahab could not back up....except with God's help.  In this case, the Lord sent word to Ahab that He would deliver Syria into Israel's hands.  This happened and Israel triumphed. 

After a little time, Ben Haddad's advisors said that the God of Israel must be a god of the mountains, but not of the plains.  If they fight on the plains Syria will win.  From the story, one would conclude that God did not favor Ahab much because the king was so evil.  But God was not going to put up with being called a God of the mountains only.  So God sent word to Ahab that he would deliver him again; and he did just that.

But a problem develops.  After Ben Haddad has been utterly defeated, he puts on sackcloth and ashes as do his remaining survivors, and he sends word to Ahab asking for a treaty.  King Ahab agrees to spare Ben Haddad.  It is at this point in the story that another inside story is inserted. 

We read of a man who is the son of the prophets who approached a neighbor and said "strike me."  The man said no way. The first man put a curse on him and he was killed by a lion.  Then he asked another man to strike him.  He did....and now the man places his bloody body beside the road.  The king Ahab passes by and the man says he was in the war, was supposed to watch over a captive, his life for his life, and suddenly the man vanished.  The injured man said to the king, now what do I do?  The king said, basically, that is your problem; you created it.  This final story ends with the man saying to the king, paraphrased here, just as I did wrong in the army, you did wrong in sparing the king Ben Haddad, not following the wishes of the Lord. 

This last story seems a bit strange, but it makes the point that we are to follow the word of God no matter what.  What He commands we must do.  And God means business; He means what He says.  We know that He is the Lord, the Creator, the God of all, the one we must follow. 

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week.

All Things Work Together for Good

One of the more beautiful verses in the New Testament is in Romans 8: 28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  This is a very comforting passage, knowing that God is with us and will take care of us.  But we also have to understand that God's ways are higher than ours, and we don't always get what we want. 

We know that God doesn't promise health and comfort in this life.  Many times we have to suffer....and we often don't know why.  But a perfect example in the Bible is Paul, who had to endure a "thorn in the flesh" which apparently brought him much discomfort.  Note 2 Corinthians 12:

7or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Lord answered Paul's request by saying, "My grace is sufficient..."  Paul wanted a break and asked for it three times, but God said, "No."  Following that we see a good attitude with Paul.  He would just "delight in weaknesses.."  And this is a lesson for us.  If life gets hard, as it often does; we must realize that God knows, God cares, and it will all be okay. 

Back to Romans 8, "What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?....Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"

Then the chapter concludes with these comforting words,

 

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"All things work together for those who love the Lord...."

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!