Live your life for the will of God.

“Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and moved into the battle; but the Israeli army looked like two little flocks of baby goats in comparison to the vast Syrian forces that filled the countryside!  Then a prophet went to the king of Israel with this message from the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have declared, ‘The Lord is a God of the hills and not of the plains,’ I will help you defeat this vast army and you shall know that I am indeed the Lord.” (1 Kings 20:27-28)

After seven days of camping across from this huge and immense army, the Israelites went to battle and killed 100,00 Syrian infantrymen the first day, causing many of the others to flee.  (1 Kings 20:29)

What incredible faith was displayed in this battle and the Lord did powerful things for the people of God.  Yet, this was not Joshua or one of the great, faith filled judges leading the charge.   This was Ahab leading them into battle.  Ahab took the words of the prophets to heart and went out against a huge army.   He could only accomplish this by faith.  And through stepping out in faith, he saw incredible miracles.

This is the same Ahab who shortly after being chided by a prophet for making friends with Ben-hadad, let his wife kill Naboth so that he could have his vineyard.  It says about him, “No one else was so completely sold out to the devil as Ahab, for his wife Jezebel encouraged him to do every sort of evil.” (1 Kings 21:25)

Ahab built a temple and altar for Baal in Samaria and made all sorts of idols in the land. It was also during his reign that Jericho was rebuilt by Hiel, a man from Bethel.   (1 Kings 16:32-34).  As a result of all the immense sin that Ahab led the people into, God’s wrath was activated.   There was famine due to lack of rain for many years on the word of Elijah (1 Kings 17:1).

The famine was so bad in the land that people were dying of starvation unless God supernaturally was sustaining them such as the widow and her son (1 Kings 17:12-16).  The king and his servants spent their time searching the land for even a patch of grass to save a few animals. 

It was in this dark environment that Elijah showed up and confronted the king about his worship of Baal.   They had become so confused about who was God from the falling away that they could not discern who was God.   The people had been drown in Baal worship.  

Elijah confronted the people on their wavering in serving more than one God.  He said to them the famous words, “How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21)

Elijah demonstrated that God was powerful and turned the people’s hearts back to Him.  They fell on their faces proclaiming “Jehovah is God! Jehovah is God!”  (1 Kings 18:39)   He then killed the 450 prophets of Baal.   At the turn of the land and people back to God, Elijah prayed and rain came again to the land.  

All that to say that the people following God or other gods in the land mattered.   It was not a neutral activity.   In 2 Chronicles 17, when Jehoshaphat became king, he not only was faithful and bold in following the command of the Lord by knocking down heathen altars and turning people’s hearts back to the Lord, but he began a nationwide religious education program.  The Scriptures were taken out to the people and they were taught them in every precinct.  As a result, 2 Chronicles 17:10 says that “Then the fear of the Lord fell upon all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them declared war on King  Jehoshaphat.

The land is devastated under the wrath of God that results from people looking to and serving other gods.  Plagues, famine and lack are the result of God’s judgement and wrath in the land from people’s hearts turning away from God and serving the world. And the land flourishes as people humble themselves and turn to God with their whole hearts.   

This is why it says in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, “If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

When the Lord and His Kingdom comes into the land, it naturally flourishes. Isaiah prophesies over the land when Jesus comes (believing this is for His return as well as His initial coming):

“Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.  Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy!  The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.   There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God.  With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.  Say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.  He is coming to save you.’

And when He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.  The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!  Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.   The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.   Marsh and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.

And a great road will go through that once deserted land.   It will be named the Highway of Holiness.  Evil-minded people will never travel on it.  It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.  Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts.   There will be no other dangers.  Only the redeemed will walk on it.   Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.  They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy.  Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.”  (Isaiah 35, LB)

What happened in the case of Jehoshaphat and Elijah is that they shifted the culture.  They made a significant difference by bold stepping out in faith and bringing forth Kingdom purposes for the hour.  Their boldness, passion and zealousness, turned others towards the Lord. 

We see that in many cases, it was the action of the king that made the difference.   The kings, designated leaders, were anointed to influence the people for good and bad.  It is was the leaders that made significant impact.  This is why so many of the prophets spoke to the kings to help them to make a shift.  Both Jehoshaphat and Ahab, as the top leader, changed the dynamics of their culture.  One for good and the other for bad. Even Elijah, when bringing word of God’s judgement and in bringing the end of it, worked through Ahab, the king of the time.

We also see that all those who brought revival to the land were bold culture shifters. They didn’t go with the flow to be nice and not create division.   Recently, I saw this with Sean Faught who led worship during Covid.   He wasn’t worried about all that was appropriate for the hour and managing everyone’s expectations for social distancing.  He just brought people together for worship. He pointed people back to God despite what media and government officials spoke to him about it.  It was powerful and shifted things in the land.   Going to his worship with others myself after George Floyd died as a memorial, fear broke off me.  

I was living in constant fear with the news reports of Covid and having a boy with special needs.   “Leviticus 26:36 speaks about a time of judgement and wrath of God for sins, “And for those who are left alive, I will cause them to be dragged away to distant lands as prisoners of war, and slaves.  There they will live in constant fear.”  (Leviticus 26:36, LB)    Living in constant fear is not from God and will not cause us to flourish – it is a place of judgement.

All that to say, if we genuinely want to make a difference in this hour and serve the purposes of the Lord, we have to put the purposes of the Lord first --before social etiquette and keeping everyone happy.  We don’t need to get in arguments over politics or facemasks, but we do need to take ground on Kingdom purposes.  These do need to matter to us and be a priority over “upsetting the apple cart.”  The apple cart is toting down a hill in the wrong direction and if nobody sticks their foot out to try to block it and push it back, eventually it will come crashing down into a big mess either way.  

For me, I hate conflict.  I hate to be the one to speak up or stand out.   If I am being honest, I don’t want to stand out or take a stand. I don’t want to be in arguments with others but love when we can all get along.  I value harmony and conflict drains me. At the same time, a refusal to do so is complacency.  It is choosing comfortability and security in the world over knowing where my help comes from.   Like the people of Israel at the time of Ahab, it is wavering between two opinions of who is God.

Micaiah was someone who was known for choosing wisely.  He never waivered about God, His power, His provision or His ways.   He was asked to prophesy to Jehoshaphat and King Ahab about if they should go to war and attack Ramoth-gilead.   All the prophets, wanting approval, told them what they wanted to hear. Micaiah spoke the truth and, upsetting the apple cart, was thrown in jail for it with only bread and water. 

Micaiah did not get shifted out of joint because of his circumstance or the backlash from Ahab in speaking the truth, rather he told them, “If you return in peace, it will prove that the Lord has not spoken through me.’  Then he turned to the people standing nearby and said, ‘Take note of what I’ve said.’” (1 Kings 22:28)

For leading the people astray, it ultimately resulted in the demise of Ahab through God’s wrath.   Even though he tried to hide and be unseen in battle, a random arrow pierced him and caused the end of his life.   I love that, even in this, God was generous with him and gave him time to repent for his wrongs and made it clear through Micaiah what he needed to repent of before he died. The Lord was faithful to Ahab up until the end, even thought Ahab kept choosing the wrong road.  And He sent people along Ahab’s path to speak the truth, even if he didn’t want to hear it.  

The Lord was also faithful to Micaiah.   While Miciaiah lived in jail on bread and water for his faithfulness, his life was so rich by being with God, that it didn’t matter to him. Like Elijah and Elisha, they chose the way of faithfulness even when it went against the grain and the leaders of the time.

In my own life, I know this faithfulness.   I once was far away from God and didn't know Him.  I went down the wrong path by following the worlds ways of striving to make a living make my own way.  My life was filled with strife, depression and lack.   Making wrong choices in how I was living in trying to fit in, anxiety attacks, fear and despair flooded my life.  I wanted to die every day.  Then when I received Christ, everything began to change.  As I followed after Him, I went from depression to joy and fear and lack to freedom and abundance.  From strife to peace.  My life is never the same.  I love life.   Some days, with tears in my eyes, I just can't believe my life could be this good.  

In Mark 5:1-20 tells a story about a man who lived a miserable life.  His life was so riddled with the demonic that they had to shackle him.  He lived among the gravestones, screaming and cutting himself.  Then Jesus came and cast the demons out of his soul and he was a totally different person.  It was such a story of transformation that all that he told in the region about the great things Jesus did for him were left awestruck by his story. 

The Lord is continually faithful and consistent in His ways.  Following other gods has always led the people to famine, plagues and lack.   But, as in the past, even amidst plagues and darkness from judgement in the land for serving other gods, God is able to guide His people safely like a flock, keeping them safe and unafraid (Psalm 78:52-23).  Like choosing David, a man after God’s own heart, as king to restore the presence and the purposes of God land so it could be healed, God is continually faithfully looking out for us and making a way.

Lord, so many have forgotten that it is You who hold our very lives in Your hand.  We are slow to follow your ways and often go astray.  We forget who you are and the mighty miracles You have done among us in the past.  We fail to put our hope on You (Psalm 78:1-8) and turn to other ways to support, provide and protect us rather than follow Your ways.  Yet, You make a way for all who want it through Your son Jesus.   Let Him lead us through the darkness back into Your ways so that our land would be healed.