Mistaking “Success” for the “Blessing of God”

Readings for today – II Kings 13:1 – 14:29

I think many people in our culture feel that there is no need of seeking God because they already have everything they need.  When I can pay all my bills, when everything is going well in the family, when there is plenty of time and the “good life” is easily affordable – why would I need God?  Eat … drink … and be merry … signs of success, and therefore they must be signs that the blessing of God is on me.

Not so fast.  In today’s lesson, there are two men who are having great success.  One is Hazael of Aram.  In 13:3, the writer alludes to the fact that Hazael and his son are having great political success.  The other is in chapter 14:23 (and following verses).  It’s the story of King Jeroboam II of Israel, and he too (inspite of the fact that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord) had great political success.  Verse 25 says he “restored the boundaries of Israel”.   It looks like the blessing of God is on him.

But look more closely.  This is not a sign of God’s blessing – it is a sign of God’s faithfulness to His covenant.  Verse 27 - “And since the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash”.   It is a sign of the mercy of God.  At this point in Israel’s history, God is not blessing their actions, but he is blessing them by withholding the judgment which they are headed toward.

For Jeroboam – great political success does not signify the blessing of God.

For (insert your name here) – great success at (insert your situation here) does not automatically you have the blessing of God.

Do you?  Only you can know for sure. 

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

Seeking Godly Counsel

Readings for today – II Kings 3:1 – 4:17

With all the power that the OT kings had, the wise ones knew that there was a time to “inquire of the Lord”.  And they also seemed to sense that they would need outside help in this inquiring.  In today’s lesson, three kings, Joram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom had allied together against Moab.  The circuitous route they had chosen for the attack led them through wilderness, until they reached the end of their physical strength.  At this point of despair, one of the kings said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” 

There comes a time when we all need outside help.  I believe that the will of God is better found in community, than when sought only by oneself.  By one’s self, it is too easy to hear our own desires and mistake those for the voice of God.  But together, in community, (a truly “seeking” church), God will speak.

You need a group – not necessarily a large group – but a group of people who will read the Bible together, pray together, overcome obstacles together – a group who will bring out God’s best in your life - A group who will “inquire of the Lord.”  Even the kings had to call in the prophet to lead them in this act.

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

Like a Breath of Fresh Air

Readings for these days – II Kings 1:1 – 2:25

Her name is Jenn, and she was one of the sharpest teenagers I had ever met.  When she was 14 she personally started a “Send Kid’s to Camp” program that enabled dozens od kids to attend a summer camp.  (She ultimately made a brief appearance on Oprah for that one!)  She was one of those teenagers who brightened every room that she entered, and it was a joy to be around her.  

The narrative of Elijah that ends in today’s lessons was like that for me.  We had been plodding through dark scene after dark scene.  This king did evil in the eyes of the Lord.  He died and was succeeded (temporarily) by his son, who followed in his father’s footsteps, and did more evil than any one who had ever gone before him.  In the book of Judges, we identified what we called a downward spiral in the life of Israel.  In the book of I Kings, it seemed as if there was no more spiral: it was now a straight line of descent. 

Into this darkness, without any introduction, strides the prophet Elijah.  He spoke God’s word boldly; he stayed true to God’s direction; he trusted God’s word; he performed God’s acts – both of mercy and judgment. 

What a great read.  I feel as if someone has opened the door after a hot summer day, and that initial breath of cooler air enters the room.  With the breath of air, there comes hope – hope that that house will cool down enough to sleep.  With the reading of Elijah’s and now Elisha’s stories, there is the re-introduction of hope.

Open the doors, Lord, open the doors!

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

Can’t ride the shirt-tails

Readings these two days – I Kings 12:20 – 15:24

The old-timers used to regularly remind us that “God has no grand-children”.  By that they meant I can’t approach God on the basis of my father’s or grandfather’s relationship with him.  Can you imagine the absurdity of approaching the throne of judgment, receiving bad news about your future, and your only recourse was to sputter out, “But don’t you remember my grandfather?”

David’s sons and grandsons were now the kings.  The nation had split, and was constantly at civil war.  The Scripture constantly compares them to David (they did evil, unlike David … or like David, they followed God.)  But it is obvious that there are no special eternal favors to them on the basis that they were his descendants.

Someone once said “there are very few fourth generation fundamentalists”.  Think about that for a few minutes, and see if it’s true in your family, and think about the fact that it is time for a new generation to make strong commitments to follow the Lord.

Let the Word Speak

Thurland

Take heed lest you fall

Readings for this weekend – 9:1 – 12:19

A couple of winters ago, two friends of mine had fallen on the ice.  Both were big men, (really big) and though the injuries were painful, they were not so bad to stop us me from laughing with (at) them, and teasing them about old people needing to watch where they walk.  Later that same week, Lorraine and I were out on a Friday night, the parking lot was icy, and I was running … singing as I ran.  And the song I sang was, “I know people who wouldn’t dare run on the ice like this.”  You guessed it – before I was through the first line, I was upside down on the ice with a wrist that bothered me for the whole winter.  I think the Bible says something like, “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.”

In the lessons we looked at over the weekend, we saw Solomon as a wise servant of God.  Suddenly, in today’s lessons, that changes.  I’m not sure how it happened.  The Scripture uses words like “Solomon accumulated”, and “did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done.”  Before we can say “I know people who wouldn’t dare do this”, Solomon is upside down on the ice.  He is marrying women forbidden to him and he is building high places so the forbidden women can worship their forbidden gods.  He is ignoring the clear commands of the Lord, and the kingdom is snatched from his (sons) hands.

Friends – we never become strong enough spiritually that we are able to do it on our own. 

Let the Word Speak

Thurland

Let’s go mountain climbing?

Readings for today – I Kings 3:4 – 4:34

Forgive me for going back and addressing a verse in II Samuel 23 rather than looking at today’s lesson, but I learned something new this week, and both the truth itself, as well as the fact that I learned something is exciting.  II Samuel 23 is David’s song of satisfaction in looking back over his life.  In v. 31 he says, “As for God, his way is perfect.”  Then in v. 34 he says, “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.  He enables me to stand in high places.”  (Repeated in Psalm 18:33 and Habakkuk 3:19)  The King James Version says, “He maketh my feet like hind’s feet.”

Here’s the lesson I learned (Thanks to Roger).

(From “Hannah’s Cupboard”) The hind is a female red deer whose home is the mountains. The rear feet of the hind step in precisely the same spot where the front feet have just been. Every motion of the hind is followed through with single-focused consistency, making it the most sure-footed of all mountain animals.   When we realize that the Lord compares our spiritual walk with the hind it shows us that the Lord has some high places for us? Places where the air is pure, the view pristine, distractions are far below, and there are paths just big enough for the two of you.

It's true that the climb up to the high places is a bit more challenging than a level foot path in the valley. But not if you've got those hinds' feet; the hinds' feet equip you for the roughest terrain.

Can't you just smell that mountain air? What are you waiting for?

Think of it this way.  The hind feet go exactly where the front feet were, meaning that the hind feet don’t have to look for the sure place.  If we are following and focusing on God’s direction in our life, then He is the front feet, and we are the hind feet.  Let’s go mountain climbing!

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

What will be your “end-of-life” song?

Readings for these days – II Samuel 21:1 0 25:25

We’ll call him Frank, though that’s not his real name.  I used to hear Frank when I was visiting in Senior’s Home of which he was a resident.  He was an angry, cynical old man, and he took his anger out on anyone who had contact with him.  At first, I felt a sorrow that Frank had grown into an angry old man.  Later I realized that he was an angry old man because he had been an angry young man.  There were others in the same home whose lives had been equally as hard as Frank’s, but they were not angry.

Near the end of the book of II Samuel (chapters 22 and 23) we read David’s song of praise, and David’s last testimony. Both are filled with satisfaction. 

The song says:

- Lord rescued me from enemies

- Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness

(Lord is faithful to faithful, blameless to the blameless, pure to the pure, and shrewd to the crooked)

- Lord’s way is perfect

- Lord is my enabler

- I pursued the enemy, but it was the Lord who armed me with strength

- The lord lives!

His testimony says much the same.  It is a wonderful thing to come to the end of life and look back with satisfaction.  But it’s an art that best be practiced when we are young.

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

Why is David weeping?

Readings for these days – II Samuel 15:23 – 17:29

II Sam. 15:30 – David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went.

II Sam. 15:31 - … David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God.

David wept, but not because of the injustices that were happening to him.  Indeed, when you look at his life, it was a life that was filled with injustices ever since the moment he had been anointed as the successor of Saul.  He had joined Saul’s service, with the intent of being a faithful servant as long as Saul lived.  This loyalty was met with murder plots and a life on the run.  Now Saul was dead, David was king, and had met with great success in combat, and Israel had become well settled in the land.  This success was now being eroded by an uprising led by his son, Absalom.  It was no wonder that David wept.

But David was no whiner.  His weeping was not over these personal hardships and injustices that he encountered.  He recognized that personal injustices and hardships were a part of life, and especially a life spent in service to God. 

So why weep?  I think David’s weeping was a weeping over the fact that Israel was drifting from God.  As he climbed the Mount of Olives, the place where people used to worship God, he wept over the state of the nation. 

Canadian Christians:  do not weep over any hardships you may endure because you are a Christian.  Personal whining does not look good on the people of God.  Whining over personal hardships makes it appear that the only reason you serve God is that he will give you a life of ease.   On the other hand, it is perfectly permissible for our hearts to cry out for the empty churches, cry out for the lack of spiritual awareness, and cry out for a great awakening in our land.

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

When Absalom tries to steal your heart

Readings for these days – II Samuel 14:1 – 15:22

When I was an assistant pastor at the Wesleyan Church in Sussex, we had several Bible College students work at the church.  One in particular was somewhat of a mover and shaker, … someone who could get people’s attention.  As he made his little inroads into the hearts of the people he would say things to me like, “you’d make a better pastor than Rev. Ricker (the senior pastor)”.  Then he’d go to Pastor Ricker, and say, “Thurland thinks the church would be better off if he were the pastor.”  And then to his friends in the church, he’d say, “Thurland and Mr. Ricker don’t get along.”   He was smooth, and many people were taken in.

In today’s lesson, Absalom, the king’s son, was a good looker and a smooth talker.  “There was no one in all Israel to be praised as much as Absalom for his good looks.  From the sole of his foot, to the crown of his head, there was no blemish.”  This good looking, smooth talking man set up shop at the city gates and began to methodically steal the hearts of the people.  They would come looking for help, and he would say, “The king is too busy, but I can help.”  And slowly the insinuation was made that Absalom would be a better king, and he “stole the hearts of the people”. 

I call it an “Absalom spirit.”  It never quite tells lies, but it never quite presents the truth either.  And unfortunately, it is present in far too many churches.  In one church, whenever there was a visitor in the church, Absalom would always get to their house before I did.  Almost always he would say, “I’m surprised pastor hasn’t been here yet.” – sowing just a tiny question mark in their minds.  In another church, Absalom used to like to go to the members homes, and say things like “I may be mistaken, but I don’t thing Pastor has … (and name something that was sure to raise some dissension.”)  Then he would ask, “what do you think about that”, and then come back and tell me what they thought.

Here’s what to do when Absalom comes to your door.  Pick up the phone, call the pastor, and say, “Pastor, Absalom is here at my house, and this is what he says.  Have you got a few minutes sometime this week when the three of us could get together and talk about it?”

Let the Word speak.

Thurland

Respect for the Lord’s Anointed

Readings for these days – I Samuel 29 – II Samuel 2:11

Saul, who ahs made himself David’s enemy, is dead!  And the people expect that David, who will now become king, will be exuberant in celebration.  But in fact, just the opposite happened.  David lamented with a great lament, because he had great respect for the “Lord’s anointed.”

A continuous theme running throughout the OT is that of respect for the sacred.  King Saul thought enough of his kingly position, that he figured he could bypass this.  He didn’t wait for Samuel to offer sacrifices; he inquired of mediums rather than ask God for directions – in short, he showed little or no respect for the ways of God unless they suited his purpose.    

David, on the other hand, showed continual respect.  When his city (Ziklag) was attacked and the women taken hostage, he “inquired of the Lord” before he went after the captors.  And now that Saul is dead, David executes the fellow who brashly reported that he was the one who had killed him.  David said to him. “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”  (You will remember that David himself had several opportunities to protect himself by killing Saul, but each time he said, “I cannot touch the Lord’s anointed and be blameless.”)

I know (because I am a preacher) that preachers can take verses like these out of context.  We can twist them and try to make them sound like a mere layperson could never disagree with the preacher.  God forgive us when we do that. 

But may God also forgive those who do “touch the Lord’s anointed.”  There are those in churches who sow discord.  I’m not quite sure what their agenda is, but they have no difficulty in doing what they can to bring down the ministry.  Thanks be to God that they are few and far between, but if you are a layman in a church, and you know there is a “church boss” who seems to delight in controlling people, make sure that you pray for “the Lord’s anointed” and be careful not to fall for the stories that the church boss tells.

Let the Word speak.

Thurland