King Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber, and was sick; and he sent messengers to enquire of baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether he will recover from the sickness (2 Kings, chapter 1 verse 1-18).
This angered God so he sent his angels to Elijah with a message, "Go up, meet the messengers of Ahaziah, and say unto them, is there no God in Israel, that you go to enquire of baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore, says the Lord, thou shall not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die.
An unrepentant Ahaziah sent an army of fifty, together with a captain to arrest Elijah. On getting to where Elijah was, the captain ordered him to come down but Elijah commanded fire from heaven to consume the captain and his fifty, and it was so. The king sent another fifty and a captain and the same thing happened to them.
Now, the king sent a third set of fifty and a captain but this time around, the captain acknowledged Elijah's God, he fell on his knees and besought Elijah to spare him and his fifty..... So Elijah arose, and went with him to the King and gave the King the same message, his sure death.
Verse 17 records that King Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken.
You see, when we place our trust in any other than God Almighty, that trust is misplaced and it angers God. Deuteronomy 4 verse 24 says " Our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God"
If you put your trust in man, it's misplaced because the arm of flesh will fail you: Psalm 146 verse 3.. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. Psalm 118 verse 8 says "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man".
If you put your trust in your own understanding, it's misplaced because your understanding will fail you: Proverbs 3 verse 5.. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
If you put your trust in material things or the things you own, that trust is misplaced: Psalm 20 verse 7-8 says "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God; They are brought down, and fallen but we are risen, and stand upright"
If you put your trust in other gods, it is also misplaced because other gods will fail you: Mark 12 verse 32...for there is one God; and there is none other but he.
Our help can only come from him: Psalm 121 verse 1-2...I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth
Psalm 9 verse 10 says " Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you". Psalm 146 verse 5 says " Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God".
Where have you put your trust?
Well said sis, i will like to add that in trusting God one has to believe in His words and obey even when we do not fully understand. The story on Noah (Genesis 6 - 8)comes to mind as a good example of fully trusting in God, obeying every step of the way and the floods did come. Glory!
ReplyDeleteThere is a reward for trusting God. 1Peter1:8-9 tells us the reward for trusting him will be the salvation of our souls. WoW!
Isaiah 26:3 Trusting in God brings peace
I think the reason we stop believing is because we do not fully understand but like you rightly pointed out, the truth is we don't have to fully understand. The bible says "Only believe".
DeleteNoah believed, and he took every step in faith, every time he nailed the wood pieces together, he was acting in faith, refusing to be discouraged by contrary opinions that surround him. Step by step he took all the way, only then did he see the full picture.
If the reward for trusting God is the salvation of our souls, what else could be better than that!
God help us.
Many times as Christians, we panic @ d sight of challenges, like our lives always need be smooth sailing, we run from prophets to pastors, from bishops to Reverends, apostles to evangelists! I certainly did after 6+ years of childlessness, I assured myself I was not unbelieving of God's faithfulness as I was doing all my race within d church.
ReplyDeleteFast forward to 10years+ 2 wonderful children later, my husband who had been raised a moslem shared a profound insight into faith for me just last week. I asked why he never panicked, flustered, complained, cry, got sick over our being without children for so long like I did; never once complained & he replied simply like a child "because I knew God had great plans concerning our children" immediately my baptist baby years + my catholic adolescent years + pentecostal post puberty years flew out of the window! Demi gods in our lives, unbelief can be expressed in various ways. God is indeed a jealous God, who detests faith in any one, thing, congregation, association, qualification beside him. Faith in him like a child, blindingly is indeed the surest sight in life.
Whao! I have to say that this comment has blessed me the most, infact, you added a ray of light to my day! It was the first thing I read as I woke up this morning but I could not reply immediately beacuse I was reading it on my phone.
ReplyDeleteYou talked about "race within the church of God". I really hope someone out there will read your comment and do just that. It's true challenges will always arise, but like you rightly pointed out, the most important thing is to keep our focus on God. If we must run at all, let's run to God!
I also waited 2 years after I got married before having a baby. I had faith that God will give us children but sometimes, that faith just grows wings and flies out of the window, I will be left empty and I will just break down and cry my heart out. Over time, I realized that the times I felt empty were those times I stopped exercising my faith!
Reading about your husband's faith just melted my heart. He put his faith to work and God rewarded him because God is a rewarder of faith. The children were not here yet but that was not his focus, rather, his focus was on God's plan for the children.
There is a song that goes, :...like a child, my heart obeys Him, when He says, Peace, be still!"
I laughed so hard when I read what you said about 'those years' flying out of the window. The truth is we all have opinions, beliefs, mindsets, and all that.. that has to be thrown out of the window! God help us.
What you have shared with us also goes in line with the message the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart to share today.. it talks about "Who do you seek". The spirit indeed is one.
I can just go on and on but let me wrap it up by saying you are such a blessing!
Thanks for the comment.