Unwavering Commitment

 
James 1:6, “But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.” There is a great example of divided loyalty in Jeremiah. King Zedekiah, who did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, waivered constantly on his decisions. He was the 3rd son of Josiah, the great revivalist. A side note, the 4th son, Jehoahaz, initially was placed in power by the people when Josiah died. He only reigned 3 months and did what was evil in the Lord’s sight when he was replaced by Eliakim, the 2nd son of Josiah, by the Pharaoh of Egypt who changed his name to Jehoiakim. He reigned 11 years and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord too. Then he was replaced by the 3rd son, Zedekiah, by King Nebuchadnezzar, and also did evil in the Lord’s sight. King Zedekiah heard the prophesies from Jeremiah about their unfaithfulness resulting in them being carted off to Babylon. He was placed in power by King Nebuchadnezzar who carted off his older brother who had burned the scroll of Jeremiah. He saw it with his own eyes yet he refused to listen, cut up the scroll with Jeremiah’s words, tried to kill Jeremiah and eventually put him in prison. Yet, in Jeremiah 37:3, it says, “Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent his religious leaders to ask Jeremiah, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” While he recognized the power of God, Zedekiah seemed to be more moved by the voice of the people then by God. He arrested Jeremiah when he was accused by officials of defecting and put into a dungeon for many days. Then he secretly called Jeremiah to ask him for a word from the Lord. When Jeremiah begged to be moved out of the dungeon, the king responded and put him in the courtyard. (Jeremiah 37) Then when a group of officials came and asked to kill Jeremiah, the king conceded to them. Then another important court official heard about it and asked the king to be able to save him from the cistern the other officials put him in and he conceded to this. After this, King Zedekiah seeks out Jeremiah and asks him for what would happen to him. Jeremiah tells him that he will be spared if he surrenders and die if he refuses. He tells Jeremiah about his fears of surrender and then asks Jeremiah to lie and cover up if any of the king’s officials what to know why he came to Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 38) King Zedekiah was all over the place with wavering in decision making. He waivered in every direction depending on who had his ear at the moment. He was easily swayed by people but resistant, hard-hearted, and stubborn about listening to the Lord. From this back and forth, we can clearly see that King Zedekiah was not at all moved by the voice of God. He was so inconsistent in his behavior because he was listening to people over God. More than anything, it seems that what mattered most to the King is what others would think of him. He wanted others to think well of him and like him. And he saw giving favors and going along with others as a way to obtain this. Sadly, the end of the story is his ultimate demise as a result. ‘ Dear friends, wavering and favoring never leads to good results. The Word of God warns us not to favor certain people and not to waver in our beliefs based upon the crowd and opinions of the moment. Elijah asks the people of God who had moved far from the Lord and were worshipping Baal, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21) We are to listen to God speaking to us rather than people. While we can have good relationships with people, it should always be rooted in what God is speaking and not the influence of other people that is not in alignment with the Word. Wavering is rooted in unbelief. This is why in this verse in James he says to be fully confident in the Lord and believe in faith, without doubting. Abraham received the promises of God because even when the circumstances looked incredibly bleak, he did not waver through disbelief, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God in advance, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised (Romans 4:20-21). What causes you to waiver? As we see with King Zedekiah, he had tons of underlying fear. Fear about what others thought, fears about being respected in his position, fears about the people he ruled wanting to harm or kill him, fears about death, and fears that in putting himself in the Lord’s hands and trusting Him, he would only be left disappointed. King Zedekiah had a desire to hear from the Lord. On several occasions he sought out Jeremiah to have him pray or to give him a word about what was coming. He seemed to know that Jeremiah was connected to the Lord. But he tells Jeremiah, “But I am afraid to surrender…for the Babylonians may hand me over to the Judeans who have defected to them. And who knows what they will do to me!” (Jeremiah 38:19) What is interesting is that all (or at least three of the four) sons of Josiah were wavering, did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and did not trust the Lord at all. None of his sons seemed to serve the Lord when Josiah was such a revivalist and reformer of his times. Josiah lived a fully committed life that was obedient to God and he was blessed as a result. It says in 2 Kings 23:25, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” However, we see this last part of Josiah’s life where, at the end, he picks a fight with the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo. He was warned by Necho not to engage and pick a fight, but he was hoping to reunify Judah and Israel and was caught up in pride for all his prior successes by the Lord. Past experience perhaps caused him to assume he would win and be protected but he had skipped over the part of asking the Lord about it. Like Joshua and the people of the Lord at Ai, he leaped based upon assumptions rather than listening for the Lord. We see this happen over and over in the Bible where the people of God make assumptions that are based upon their past experiences. The people coming out of Egypt shrunk back in fear, complained and doubted God all along their great rescue. They were still living in the disappointment of the past and let this experience even keep them from entering the Promised Land. They were too afraid to move forward and God had to rise up a new generation. The new generation were strong and confident as they saw victories. However, they began, like Josiah, to assume that God was with them and just give them the victory. They assumed rather than asking in the battle of Ai and lost. All that to say that one of the hinderances to hearing from God can be past experience. This is perhaps why Paul says, "forgetting what lies behind me, I press forward towards the mark..." Coming back to Josiah, He was bold as a strong lion but his confidence was not rightly placed in this case. When warned by Necho to back down as there was no quarrel between them Chronicles 35:22 says Josiah, would not turn away but (out of pride or assumption) disguised himself so he could engage in battle. Then as he went against Necho, he was killed by him. Proverbs 26:17 tells us that one who meddles in a quarrel that is not his own is like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears. They are bound to end up harmed as it is a dangerous and foolish thing to do. Whatever caused Josiah to do this, it not only resulted in a loss of his life and hardship for his family, but most likely created trauma in his children, undercutting their trust in the Lord. They saw God as untrustworthy perhaps as a result and struggled with significant fears. Who knows if that is actually the case or not for certain. But, being someone who follows the Lord wholeheartedly and having none of your children follow, suggests there was something missing, lacking, or wrong. Over and over, the Word speaks of the children of the righteous being blessed. Great is their peace (Is. 54:13), they shall be delivered (Proverbs 11:21), protected (Ps. 37:28), saved (Ps. 72:4), and will experience a blessing (Is. 44:3). This is a great example of why it is so important to listen and follow the Lord. When we fail to follow and go off course it may not only impact our own lives but our children’s lives. It could hinder generations after us. Our obstinacy, rebellion, or inattentiveness to the Lord can cause those who follow or come after us to veer off course. At the same time as Josiah’s children failed to trust the Lord, there are plenty of kings who had fathers that were not serving the Lord and doing evil where their children made different choices and followed the Lord. Josiah’s father and grandfather were both evil, but Josiah went a different direction and served the Lord wholeheartedly. For whatever reason, these Kings that were sons of Josiah, like we see with King Zedekiah, had wavering in disbelief and lack of trust in the Lord. James tells us that the one who wavers is like a wave of the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed. King Zedekiah’s decisions were as unsteady as riding a wave of the sea that is tossing in every direction.

Ever feel tossed around and driven? I had this experience for a long time before I was set free from anxiety, fear of disaster, and people pleasing. I wasn’t being prompted by the Spirit but driven and pressed by fears, anxiety, worries and what I saw in looming disaster. I was never at peace. We cannot make wise decisions full of fear. But, the Lord still calms the seas in the same way as He did for His disciples. He breaks every rule to come and bring peace. When we are afraid, if we will just listen, the Lord will speak to us and lead us the way of peace. He will calm the winds and the waves. Job 22:21-22 says, “Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. List to his instructions, and store them up in your heart.” When I struggled with anxiety attacks before I was set free, I had this little book of scripture encouragement. I’m not sure where I got it from but every time I opened it, God gave me a Word out of it that would speak profoundly to my heart and bring me peace. When I was having an anxiety attack, I couldn’t seem to hear from the Lord as I was being tossed around. I just struggled in this way to connect with the Lord. So I would turn on some music, open up my Bible and pray for a while. But whenever I opened up this little book and let the page drop wherever, God would bring me incredible comfort. His Word never failed. When we need it, He comes walking across the ocean to help us out. He is not constrained by any elements, rules or anything in this natural realm. He offers to get in the boat with us, or willingly offers His hand if we want to step out in faith in the midst of the storm. He broke all the rules for me in my fear and anxiety. He genuinely was in that little book and spoke to me whenever I opened it up. He so much Fathered me through the book that when I was healed from anxiety attacks the book disappeared for a season. I looked for it everywhere. It was time for me to grow and learn to store up the Word in my heart rather than cling to it in anxiety. He is so good to me. His promises are never failing. When I needed that little book, He gave it to me but once I was set free, He matured me in my way of dealing with difficulty. Yet, there are times He just hits me with a Word. It is a drop the mic moment where He just speaks something so clear to me that is profound. I love how He does this. I once was really mad at my husband and I went to open up my Word to try to calm down and I opened right to a passage that said, “I will put a muzzle on my mouth.” He sometimes gives me dreams of being protected. He shows me how He is in all my circumstances looking out for me. He also sometimes gives me dreams of angels protecting me. In one dream, I had this really huge angel that was pushed in and filled the entire room. Then I was told that he was there to protect me. Once, not too long ago, I had this rose-colored angel that was there to help me in my relationships. Things then just began to fall into place and misunderstandings dissolved. Another time, before my mother went home, before she started having more difficulty, I had a dream about an entire entourage of angels that accompanied her as she made all these stops. They were all being directed by a main guardian angel. It was amazing her care. I always feel so loved by these dreams or even looking back and remember this. The Lord is so good to me beyond measure. It leaves me in awe.

While I cannot specifically relate to Josiah's sons of having a strong God fearing father my whole life make a significantly off choice at the end of his life. My father's story was opposite of this and he came to know the Lord at the end of His life. However, the last few weeks with this situation of Josiah making a wrong turn and the story about the prophet who followed an older prophet and was deceived, I can see myself in this situation.

I love the Lord with my whole heart, but I do not always use discernment in my choices. I believe I may have blind spots where I make assumptions. This is especially true with Christian leaders. I am not questioning at times the best path forward but, being eager to please, I pick up what my leaders speak to me and often just run with it. Since I have had a lot of success in the past, I just assume God will give me success with what I take up. In so many cases, He does. All that to say that I believe I need to be more discerning.

Lord, you still cross the ocean to come get in the boat with us. And you are still speaking peace to the winds and the waves. Thank you for all the waves you care for us so deeply. Give us a fresh vision of Your love, a fresh Word to hold onto, and reminders everywhere that we look that we are loved, cared for, and protected.