S) "29 Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him."
1 Kings 16:29-30 (NASB)
O) This Ahab, he was one of the most evil kings of Israel ever, and was the difinitively worst up to this point. In the history just before him, though, we see a string of kings who are dethroned and destroyed for their wickedness, some only being king a matter of days. There are many Psalms and Proverbs, regarding the mystery of successful, evil men. The above verses struck me, though, because they were such a vivid example of that mystery. Why does the LORD allow such men to rule? And for twenty-two years? That is one of the longest reigns of all the kings of Israel, and it came from one of the worst.
A) We pretty much never see the full picture of what God is doing. In fact, we usually only see a part of it, if even that. But, I must continue to put my trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God. Fully trusting Him doesn't just mean that I accept my place, in not knowing all of the details. Trusting Him also means that I give up my desire to have all of the information. Knowledge is useless if it doesn't change our behavior. So, if I'm choosing obedience regardless of whether or not I have all of the details of God's plans, then that means the knowledge of such details is actually useless to me. I give up the desire for useless knowledge. I trust that He knows why He is allowing evil men to live, and I control what I actually can control: my own obedience and devotion to Him.
P) Father, I concede that You are a mystery to me. Your ways are too great for me to fully understand, and so I forfeit my desire to have all of Your knowledge, I humbly admit that I could not give You counsel, even if I did have all of the facts. So, I choose obedience, with however much of Your plan You choose to reveal. Let Your will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
A) We pretty much never see the full picture of what God is doing. In fact, we usually only see a part of it, if even that. But, I must continue to put my trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God. Fully trusting Him doesn't just mean that I accept my place, in not knowing all of the details. Trusting Him also means that I give up my desire to have all of the information. Knowledge is useless if it doesn't change our behavior. So, if I'm choosing obedience regardless of whether or not I have all of the details of God's plans, then that means the knowledge of such details is actually useless to me. I give up the desire for useless knowledge. I trust that He knows why He is allowing evil men to live, and I control what I actually can control: my own obedience and devotion to Him.
P) Father, I concede that You are a mystery to me. Your ways are too great for me to fully understand, and so I forfeit my desire to have all of Your knowledge, I humbly admit that I could not give You counsel, even if I did have all of the facts. So, I choose obedience, with however much of Your plan You choose to reveal. Let Your will be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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