Ok gang stick with me on this one I know I seem to be getting long winded and I promise to try and keep them a little shorter but this week is a challenging one. One that blew me away as God pointed it out. Hopefully this is just a reminder for everyone else because it seems so simple at the conclusion.
Let me set the background for you. We have Solomon the wisest King to ever live. God blessed him enormously because of his father David and because of his humility during the beginning of his reign. But over the years he lost his focus on God and allowed his wives to bring foreign Gods into Israel. 1 Kings 1 – 11 is the story of Solomon’s reign. At the end of his reign God told Solomon that he would hand Israel over to another King because of his unfaithfulness (1Kings 11:9 – 13). This is where we begin today. God Chose Jeroboam as the new king over Israel and sent a prophet to tell him this. The prophet even went as far as to tell Jeroboam why God was taking the Kingdom from Solomon (Because they turned to other Gods 1 kings 11: 29 – 40) In that same section God tells Jeroboam “Walk in my ways… and I will build for you an enduring house”.
God follows through on his promise and gives Jeroboam 10 out of 12 tribes of Israel leaving 2 for the family of David. Here’s the part that kills me (1 kings 12: 25 – 32) Since the temple is still in Jerusalem (Not a part of his new kingdom) Jeroboam fears the people will return to the house of David when they go to Jerusalem to worship so he sets up “Replacement Gods” for them to worship so they wont have to leave. Yes you are reading this right. God gives Jeroboam a gift and he is so afraid of losing that gift that he chooses to replace the very God that gave him the gift. This seems like a worse offense than that of Solomon who simply allowed other Gods into the kingdom (Still definitely not a good thing.) I read this and was shaking my head thinking “What a freakin idiot!” Then I remembered Everything in the old covenant speaks of the new. Israel is symbolic of all Gods family today. This means I am a part of Israel. Have I done what Jeroboam is doing? How much has God given me and rather than trusting that he will continue to provide I seek to find ways to secure it. God gave me a community of friends rather than trusting these friends will love me as I am I hide certain things about me from them. God gave me a business rather than trusting he will bless the business I do what I can to keep it going even if it means taking advantage of my employees or customers, He gave me a job but I take credit for someone else’s work to get ahead or I talk about my coworkers so I can look better. He gave me finances and asked that I give a small part of them to others but instead I keep it all because I fear they wont use it right or to safeguard the house and car he gave me as well.
Here’s the thing. Not trusting God to continue to care for us does two things it hurts us and it harms others. Jeroboam lost his kingdom (1 kings 13: 1- 7) and Israel turned their hearts to other Gods. But by trusting God you will receive blessings that you would not have otherwise and it will bless others as well. 1 kings 17: 8 – 16 Elijah goes to a widow and asks her to make him some food. The widow tells him she is about to make the last of her food for her and her son after this they will starve to death (They were in a famine) But Elijah said make it for me first and you will be fine. She does and then finds that her oil and flour didn’t disappear. It says they ate for many days and the oil and flour never disappeared. Elijah listened to God and went to the widow and he, she and her son were all blessed. But Elijah had to go first for that to happen. The widow listened to Elijah and made him food before she made herself and son food then Elijah, her and her son were blessed but she had to make the food first. If you continue in the story you see another blessing that would not have happened if the widow did not trust God. Her son grew sick and died. Elijah raised him from the dead. Again this would not have happened if sometime earlier the widow had not decided to give Elijah the last of her food.
All this to lead you to your assignment of the week. “Trust God” Duh, I’ve heard that before Larry and I am daily trying to do just that. Ok lets give it a specific. One thing to grab a hold of. What has God given you that you are holding onto too tight? Maybe your finances? You don’t trust God to provide if you give back 10%. This week find someone in need or a few people in need and give them some money. Maybe it’s your friendships. This week it’s time to open up. Maybe it’s your car. Loan it to someone who needs a ride. As we recognize Gods gifts and as we realize that God is not an “Indian Giver” we will learn to trust him more and we will get more blessings in return.
Have a great week Gang and as always. Lets Live it Upside Down!
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