I HOPE GOD ISN’T LIKE THAT

A characteristic of our me-obsessed culture is the desire (or should I say the demand?) that God line up with our individual agendas.

It’s not really a new thing, because Scripture gives us a lot of cases where believing this idea has ruined people’s lives. 2 Chronicles chapters 17 & 18 give us a textbook example of how this happens & what can be the effects of it.

King Jehoshaphat had begun his reign well. He honored the Lord in the priorities of his rule, & experienced God’s blessings. However, he gave in to the temptation to do the easy thing by allying himself by marriage with a neighboring king, Ahab, who had a clear track record of not honoring the Lord.

Jehoshaphat probably hoped that God would not mind this unholy alliance.

Wanting to go thru the motions of honoring God, Jehoshaphat & Ahab summoned a large group of prophets to pronounce God’s blessing on a joint military campaign. This group of 400 “yes-men” did so, & when Jehoshaphat complained that he wanted to hear what a true prophet of God had to say, they brought one who (probably with a sarcastic tone) agreed with what the false prophets had said. When pressed, this prophet gave a very dynamic & poetic prophecy about how God had put a lying spirit in the mouths of the false prophets. He prophesied that the 2 kings would experience a crushing defeat.

Although his conscience was certainly troubled by this, Jehoshaphat probably hoped that somehow God’s prophet was mistaken.

When they were preparing for the battle Ahab, the older king, suggested that he disguise himself by dressing in a more common uniform, while Jehoshaphat would wear the royal uniform. Ahab hoped that by disguising himself & exposing Jehoshaphat to the enemy archers, that his own life would be spared even if it the cost of his son-in-law.

Guess who got hit with a “random” arrow & died before the end of the day? The guy in the normal uniform who hoped the prophecy wouldn’t be fulfilled.

“Me-obsession” leads us to hope that somehow God isn’t who He says He is. We should know better. We can hope all day long, but at the end of the day, God is still God. May this conviction about who God is stir hope, obedience, & faith in our hearts, & not a subtle, impending sense of dread about the future.