Timing

2 Kings 6:24-27 Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver (expensive), and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver (expensive). How as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my Lord, O king!” And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you?

2 Kings 7:1-2 But Elisha (God’s prophet) said, “Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel (cheap), and two seas of barley for a shekel (cheap), at the gate of Samaria.” Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows of heaven, could this thing be?” But he (Elisha) said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

It is amazing how quickly a situation can change. The economy looks so good one day, yet the next day the DOW drops 200 points. Your boss is singing your praises one day and the next day you hear about layoffs. The Texas Rangers can be dominating in the playoffs and then…you get the picture.

I have a friend who faced a weird job situation like that in 2011. He was a top performer one day and the next, after discovering a possible corporate scandal, found out that he was facing disciplinary action for what seemed to be false accusations. He ended up getting fired out of the blue. Come to find out there was some tricky billing situations going on and the company is facing a complete overhaul.

If you really think about it, very few things in this life is truly stable and within your control.

So how in the world can a person stay sane, and sober, in the midst of the roller coaster of life?

Do you really want to just celebrate when things go great and feel sorry for yourself when things go bad? If that is how we live this life then we will simply be slaves to politicians and the ideological battles of our world leaders! Is that what we want? Do we really trust them with our well-being and the well-being of our children? Or is there something more stable to grab on to so that when a crash happens you can sustain it and maintain your focus on what truly matters?

Now don’t get me wrong, it is important to celebrate victory and mourn suffering. But if all of our hope and trust rests in the hands of people who we don’t really know, then how can we find true peace that lasts?

When you look at any situation during a crisis, there seems to be no reason for hope. However when you move forward a year, two years, even five years down the road you often see the struggle resolved and life moving on for all parties involved.

How can you know when the resolution will happen? You can’t. So how can you simply put your hope the old adage, “Time heals all wounds?” Well the truth is you can’t. We don’t know when and even if the struggles we face today will be resolved to our satisfaction in this life. So how in the world can you rest peacefully when you think about all that can go wrong?

In the passage written above you see a situation that is completely grim. Not only is Syria besieging Samaria, but there is also a terrible famine in the land! So Samaria cannot collect water to drink nor can they send out for supplies from their neighboring countries! It appeared that destruction was the only outcome for Samaria.

But what happened? A man of God remained faithful to God’s word and God used this man to deter the Syrian army.

What was the result? The army is no longer besieging Samaria and they left all of their supplies outside the city for the Samarians to take and use themselves. Two birds, one stone. God solved the seemingly hopeless situation by simply causing the Syrian army to hear what seemed to be a great army coming against them.

So what am I trying to say?

It’s pretty simple really. Our problems are in God’s hands! When you are his child he will not let you go! Trust in him and him alone for your future! Though our situations may look grim for now, God is working through them! They may not be resolved in the time or way we desire, but there is a greater purpose that our suffering plays in God’s plan! Suffer well!

This is hard for many of us to take because we don’t want to hear it when we are in the midst of the struggle. But please, be still and listen to what the Lord is saying to you in the midst of your struggle. HE IS FAITHFUL!

Now may we, though our situation can look grim, see our struggles from God’s viewpoint and trust Him! Amen!

Honesty

1 Kings 22:13-14 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably. But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”

What amazing honesty! Micaiah was not intimidated by the king into lying or soft-selling the truth. He simply said, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.” And he said this to the king whose wife, just the chapter before, arranged a brutal murder of someone who simply told the king, “no.”

America is the country of salesmen. Our politics are politics of sales. If you can smile and charm people then you can pretty much get what you want. Just look at all the scandals that go on every day in all levels of business and state. Ponzi schemes and book cooking are just a few of the atrocities that go on in corporate America. Strong arming and blackmailing are just a few sad realities of the political landscape. This is not to say that all politicians and high level executives are bad. Well…maybe not all the executives.

Israel was not that much different at this time. All of the prophets before Micaiah straight up lied to the king, telling him that he would be successful in a war when they likely knew he would die! Wow! But what was the alternative? Death? Imprisonment?

So the question arises, “What would you do in that situation? What would I do?” Let’s say the king or ruler of your country, who is known for brutally murdering his enemies, asks you for what God thinks about his actions. How do you respond? You are likely to be killed if you are honest. If you smudge the truth you will save your skin, but would have to live with the guilt and shame of cowering to the evil of the world. It is something to think about. I know when I read this passage I was challenged with this question.

Lord, please give us the courage to stand up against evil and speak the truth in all contexts! May we not misrepresent your word in this world! Amen!