My way = big losses

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” . . . .  
Ahijah could not see. . . . The Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman. But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam. . . . When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord. . . . The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, the Lord will strike Israel. . . .   And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.” 
Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet. (1 Kings 14:1–18)

I had an early appointment today with time to only read this sad story. Imagine being told your child would die because his father sinned even though he knew not to. Not only that, this was that man’s only heir so he also lost the throne that he had inherited from his father. 

That the child would be buried rather than slaughtered was “because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord” is a startling statement to those who tend to think of death as a punishment, but that child must be trusting God, and that would please Him. His mother may have taken comfort in that later.

This backs up the importance of NT teaching for wives: “. . . .  let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:33) This isn’t just an attitude. Respect has a way of making someone desire to be respectable. It means an attitude of regard that would not encourage sin, or go along with it trying to trick a prophet. Being submissive to someone does not mean obedience that disobeys God. Being a helper includes encouragement to do right.

Jesus, You have convinced me that I am free to make choices but cannot choose the consequences. How foolish to go against Your plain teaching as this father did and lose his child, his throne and legacy, and having his enemy win over him. Worst of all, making You angry enough to release his enemy against him. Therefore I’d like to read more about the positive side of obeying You.

God’s ways are not our ways. . . .

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. (1 Kings 11:9–14)

Trials are part of life. Some of them are allowed to test my faith and build it, making me more mature:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

In contrast, some trials are God's way of chastening me for errors in my thinking that are rooted in selfishness. Both are important activities of God as He uses everything for my good, that I might be more like Jesus.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

Those trials to correct are almost always a surprise. I didn’t realize that I was wrong (stubborn and stupid?) but this was not the case for Solomon. He was warned about idolatry and did it anyway. This meant severe chastening from an enemy that had previously escaped death when David and his army of men destroyed the people of Edom.

In some ways, this Edom/Israel is a centuries-old conflict. Edom is where Esau lived, the twin of Isaac who had little interest in God or godliness. For generations, the descendants of these two men have been in conflict. If they are seen as types, they would point to the Christian battle between flesh and Spirit, a war often at the root of struggles in my life and a war often involving idols — or to put it bluntly, a war between me, myself and I and the Spirit of God. The only way to win it is by yielding my I wants to the will of God. 

Solomon started out by yielding to God, but was turned aside by idols. Ironically, Hadad was also the name of an idol, and of several kings of Edom. God was using this enemy to chasten this ‘wise’ king. Could it be that a trial to rebuke me is somehow connected to the reason I need the rebuke?

Jesus, Your wisdom and understanding always seem to use the events of life to match up and speak to my needs, even to use as shaping and correcting me. I am amazed at You, and even rejoice that You can use enemies to glorify Yourself in the lives of Your children. I’m glad that nothing is impossible for You.

No gods

The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time. . . . And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’ ” (1 Kings 9:2–9)

Although keeping the Law never was not nor could be the means of salvation, obeying God always is the means of blessing. This is because God's way is good for us. Just one example is the results of serving Him rather than other gods. He is Almighty and nothing is impossible for Him. As for other gods, what are they? Carved images? Imaginary creatures? Stone carvings? Forces of weather and nature controlled by what? (Or Who?) Mere humans? Me, myself, and I?

Other gods boil down to no gods, just human invention and imagination? The NT says as much, yet also attributes the idea of gods to demon forces and Satan. Jesus defines him, and other passages speak of demonic powers whose task is to discredit the truth He brings:

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:23)
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Just writing these words makes me shiver. Satan whispering suggestions to rule my own life gives me more reasons to avoid anything that is not from my Lord and Savior. 

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. (1 Corinthians 8:4–8)
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. (Galatians 4:8–11)

From Scripture and experience, the power of obedience is clear, as is the power of the enemy who disguises himself as an angel of light and uses subtle lies in his attempts  to destroy me.

Jesus, because of You, I cannot be destroyed, but my witness to the world and ability to glorify You can be messed up by disobedience. Today You again ask me to do several things I’d rather not do. I’m thankful for the encouragement to say yes, and to rely on You for all that I need to obey.

The heart of wisdom

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. (1 Kings 8:22–29)

It did not take long for God's answer to Solomon’s request for wisdom. The rest of this prayer is essentially the Gospel, requesting forgiveness for His people when they sin and asking guidance for life.

I seldom hear prayers like this. Too often request are made for health, prosperity, and comfort. These days, many Christians do not want to be sick, needy, or in distress, even though it is trials that we grow. Prayer requests are often for relief from trials even though the NT says:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. . . . Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:2–12)

After 30+ moves and many changes in life, it seems that change is often feared because it requires learning how to manage new circumstances. In other words, wanting to continue to control life rather than be plopped into something new that cannot be controlled by self-effort. This means that God must be trusted, even though running life my own way fits His description of sin:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) 

In the wisdom God gave him, Solomon realized that going his own way would be contrary to God's way. He eventually failed some of those tests too, just like the rest of us, but would I even know the extent of my sin if the circumstances of life did not test my loyalty to God?

Lord Jesus, You gave Solomon the wisdom to know how much he needed You and to pray this prayer. I’m feeling a great need for wisdom too. I don’t know what trials lie ahead, today or in future days, but whatever comes, I want the to deal with it Your way and not my own. “Let my heart therefore be wholly true to You, Lord our God, walking in Your statutes and keeping Your commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:61)

Trust God's plan…

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 
And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” 
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 
And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. (1 Kings 3:5–15)

My dreams are usually stories that make little sense. However, several times I’ve gone to bed with something on my mind and had a dream that made sense of it. Lately I’m trying to get more order in my life and have had amazing ideas pop up in dreams to show me how.
Solomon’s dream was awesome. He was given far more than his humble request and became famous as well as wise and wealthy. His prayer is instruction for my prayers.

First, acknowledge what God has already done — and that I do not deserve any of it. Then ask for wisdom for the day. Simple. Why this request? Because I don’t know what the day will bring.

Yesterday could not have been predicted. A server in an eating place tell me her struggles and ask me to pray for her. Another person told me she was losing her sight and God gave me words to encourage her. After that, a new friend came to chat and it felt like she was someone I have known forever. Then a stranger approached and told me of losing her Christian son a few months ago and how she had not accepted it and was not grieving. I affirmed that he was not dead, that he just moved to a different address. She joyfully agreed. God put a sparkle in her eyes and amazement in my heart.

When I came home, I knew all that was God's doing, and beyond anything I could have asked for or imagined. Nothing was planned. It just happened and I was watching it happen and being blessed as I watched Him bless those ladies.

Jesus, we talk about being used, or pray for this or that, but I like Solomon’s prayer. I just need Your wisdom and trust You to make Your plan happen without making any plans of my own.

Jehovah is on His throne!

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.” (1 Kings 1:11–14)

It had already been determined that Solomon would take the throne after David died. However another man had a following and determined to be the next king. This would not happen by popular vote as in our democracy. 

Not only that, the life of the rest of David’s family was in danger with Adonijah as king. To put a royal mother to death along with her offspring, though perhaps unusual, was not unknown. Nathan the prophet Nathan says this may be Bathsheba’s fate. He also knew God’s will for Solomon because David told him:

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’ (1 Chronicles 22:8–10)

Since David was near the end of his life, he needed reminders of this and of the conspiracy that was happening. When told, he took wise steps to insure that Solomon became the next king.

This event is told with much detailed description. As a detail person, getting a big picture is a challenge. What I do see is the activity of our spiritual enemy trying to thwart the will of God. In this case, he uses Adonijah’s ambition to rule and David’s feeble condition to try and stop Him from putting his choice on the throne.

God refused to allow that enemy by strengthening His servant David to declare his intentions as the one who still had the authority to do so — after Nathan and Bathsheba informed him of the plot.

The Bible says God sets up kings and also puts them down. We watch the news and wonder about those currently in power, yet I’m hearing that in war-torn places thousands of people are turning to Christ because of the decisions of their evil political leaders. We might send food and military aid, but God is using their horrible situations to grant mercy and eternal life. 

Oh God, surely Your ways are not our ways. You remain on the throne and as mere mortals plot to usurp You, they cannot. Jesus is King of kings, and cannot be destroyed nor can His family be erased. You have given us eternal life, no matter what ambitious and God-hating enemies try to do. You are our hiding place, our shelter in all storms, our eternal hope, the one still in charge of even those who seem to be controlling what is happening in this messed-up world. Praise Your powerful and holy Name!

Grieving…

And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” (2 Samuel 12:15–23)

Grief can take many forms. The saddest are those that feel it deeply and for the rest of their lives. Everything reminds them of their loss and they feel hopeless and unable to experience joy or purpose. The funerals are sad, if there is one, and the promises of God are not mentioned nor the hope we have in Him.

Most dictionaries define hope as a desire for something, a ‘hope so’ or wish. That is not biblical hope. God promises eternal life, and because of His nature, faith knows that what He offers is true. He proves it by raising raised His Son from the dead.

Yet even before that happened, David knew it would. God puts “eternity in our hearts” as part of the changes that occur through faith, but may not realize that  faith is the answer to the sorrow of grief. David knew he would see his son again, just as I know I will see Jesus — and my parents, and my sister and many more loved ones again. This hope is based on God’s promise and on the resurrection of Jesus. Both are evidence that prove He can and will deliver on His promise:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)

Death has been viewed as our enemy and we fight it, as if we never want it to happen, but the Bible views it as seeing Jesus and becoming like Him (1 John 3:1-3). For shame that anyone would see that as a bad thing.

Jesus, every day I pray and often sing my desire to be like You. You make that happen as I see You as You are, not my genie whose only goal is comfort and granting my wishes, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords who has given me the hope of eternal life. My death is not ceasing to live but merely a change of address and moving to a far better place to live than this one.