Do you think anyone can hide from God’s watchful eye? For some, we are comforted by the thought that God cares for us that much to be mindful of us. Others may be terrified because of the guilt they feel for living a life that is not pleasing to God.
Do you think that’s what was happening to Jeroboam? He was king because God had spoken it so through the prophet. So, now that Jeroboam wants to make contact with God, he sends his wife in disguise. It reminded me of Adam and Eve trying to cover themselves up in the garden after they had sinned against God.
We can’t hide from God any more than Adam and Eve did. God is all knowing. There’s a fancy word for that. Omniscience. Jeroboam couldn’t hide from God either.
God knew Jeroboam was going to seek help. After all, the king’s son was sick! Jeroboam didn’t seek counsel from all the fake gods that he had been worshipping. He knew his answer would come from the God who called him to be king. So why did he spend so much time and effort focusing on the other gods?
Have you had times in your life when you’ve wanted to hide from God? What was it that you were “ashamed” of?
In those times of “disobedience” or living outside of God’s perfect will for our lives, we can often feel disconnected, empty, and full of doubts. We may start to believe that God doesn’t love us anymore because he is so disappointed in our behavior.
God never stops loving us, even when we mess up. I liken it to what I can wrap my head around and that’s being a parent. My children messed up a lot when they were younger. They probably still do, but I’m not around them to witness it firsthand. I never stopped loving them, even when they were being naughty. Never ever. Likewise, God never stops love us.
Jeroboam is not going to like the message he gets from the Lord. Tough love right here. What saddens me about this encounter are the “innocent” people affected by Jeroboam’s poor choices. The prophecy included that God “will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and made Israel sin along with him.” That’s a lot of responsibility.
We can approach God today in ways Jeroboam couldn’t. We have Jesus as our savior and the Holy Spirit as our advocate. We have awareness of the beautiful Trinity and how we can tap into that power for our own lives. We will still stumble, yes, but we are aware of how to seek forgiveness. We have that assurance.
Does that give us a “free ticket” to sin to our little hearts content? I’m not even going to answer that other than to say that if we are truly following Jesus, trying to be more and more like him in our daily lives, then sinful behavior is NOT what we seek or even desire. Sin’s power is broken, however, Romans 6:15 says, “Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!”
Our boo-boos tend to bother us even more when we are trying to live a life pleasing to God. Living in fear, looking over our shoulders to see who is watching is not the kind of life I want. I know I can’t hide from God. He is the one I’m trying to please in this life. Like any good father, he delights in giving good things to his children. I delight in his blessings.
Let’s pray …
Lord, thank you for watching over me. It doesn’t bother me one bit that you can see everything I do. I don’t have to hide when I know I’m doing my part to live the life you intend for me. Continue to open the doors you want me to walk through and bring the people into my path that I am to serve in some way. Make it all clear to me, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
