Little things drag us down. We awake, and we realize we’ve missed the alarm. The day starts off in a rush, and we growl at everyone we meet, even our family and coworkers.
A little thing, the ringing of a clock.
We show up at church, dressed in our finest, and we head for our favorite pew, only to find a new family there, one with many children, happily filling up our space. We sit elsewhere, but our joy in the service is gone. It’s the comfort of our familiar space stolen by another that consumes us.
A little thing, a pew in the sanctuary.
We arrive home from work to find our son has blocked the garage door. How simple was it for him to be considerate? We get off work at the same time every day. He knows that, and rather than giving him a hug, we ask him to move his car.
A simple thing, the location of a car.
Where’s our strength in the Lord? Where’s our fortitude that says we’ll stand no matter what comes our way? Instead, we let minor irritations steal our joy, and we are distracted from the Way of the Lord.
The year is 884 B.C. (or B.C.E. for the modern scholar). Jehu has just been anointed as king of Israel. Jehu is something special. Mankind might not be able to see it, but he is the divine instrument of God’s wrath against the house of Ahab, who abandoned God and repented, receiving God’s delayed judgment, and leaving his descendants subject to God’s postponed penalties for Ahab’s moral depravities.
Over a short span of time, Jehu is confronted by two kings, Joram and Ahaziah, both in the lineage of Ahab, and targets of God’s wrath. He kills both as a direct result of Elijah’s sentence upon Ahab as given by the prophet from God unto man.
Jehu had been the former King Ahab’s man. He was given the honor of riding in Ahab’s chariot with the king. He stood beside him when Elijah condemned him for his atrocities. Jehu knew the divine will of the Almighty God as spoken by Elijah.
Jehu stood tall and smote that which God decreed as unworthy, and he did not rest until God’s will was done.
Now read in 2 Kings 10:5:
“He who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, ‘We are your servants, and we will do all that you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.’ ”
Jehu stood tall, and because he let nothing deter him from God, he changed how the world viewed him. Why? Read the previous verse:
“They were exceedingly afraid and said, ‘Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand?’ ”
When we refuse to let the little things of life drag us down, the world notices. We become mighty men and women of God. We gain honor before the world, and they know for whom we stand.
Better yet, the devil knows for whom we stand. We stand for God, and no obstacle, no matter how great, will get in our way. All we need to do is stand before our problems like a Jehu, and all that comes against us will bow at our feet, given to us as good gifts from our heavenly Father above.
Becoming a pillar of the church starts with holding the door for the unknown visitor who takes our pew.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Originally Published 11-22-15 in Hope