trust God – Page 13 – Be Still…

2 Kings 10:1-17 – Taking God Seriously

hands open and pointing toward lighted cross

Jehu is taking his job very seriously. While I’m not a fan of killing people, I am a fan of following God’s command. Sometimes God calls us to do things we feel unprepared to accomplish. In Jehu’s case, he had been prepared as an army commander. Death is not foreign to him.

Jehu has been very methodical in his elimination of Ahab’s family. Of course, he had to take out the king first to have authority. The queen would be next because of her approval rating with the people. Now it was time for Ahab’s family. I don’t know about you, but I was surprised to learn Ahab had seventy children tucked safely away. Seventy! Let that number sink in a bit.

2 Kings 6:24-7:2 – Drama in Samaria (Part One)

Read 2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Some time must have passed between our last reading and the events that are unfolding here. You’ll recall Elisha had made quite a statement with Aramean leadership, and they “stayed away from the land of Israel.” But those memories soon faded, and now we see Israel’s neighbor to the northeast coming to attack again (imagine present day Syria).

War is never a good thing, even worse when it causes a famine. I’m not a fan of what we read about happening to the two women and neither was the king! I can’t even imagine having the discussion much less acting on such a desperate solution. Clearly, these women had lost hope and were not relying on God.

2 Kings 4:38-44 – From Hunger to Plenty

Read 2 Kings 4:38-44

Here Elisha performs two more miracles on God’s behalf, this time to make things right for his prophets. Our setting is during a time of famine. I can’t say that I’ve lived through a famine because of the present-day grocery store. But I can imagine before we had such convenience, weather patterns and food shortages in a particular area would be devastating.

I’m not sure the gourds were “poisonous” or deadly, as some of the stew was consumed. It’s more likely that the wild gourds would lead to stomach upset and be bitter or foul tasting. The miracle may have simply been the wisdom God gave Elisha to know how to fix it with a little flour. Rather than have a pot of ruined stew, Elisha made it edible so they would not go hungry. (Remember the salt from Chapter 2?)

Isaiah 55:1-13 ? Promise of Salvation

Read Isaiah 55:1-13

shadow on a brick wall of man praying at the cross

This chapter in Isaiah is a call out to us, an offer of God’s blessing of salvation. There is so much richness here to reflect on. While the words serve as an invitation, they also promise us forgiveness. What a great reading for our theme of salvation, forgiveness, and new life!

Do you find yourself with an unquenchable thirst or hunger for more of Jesus? With all that is going on in the world around us, we can find ourselves a bit parched. The evil one does a great job in distracting us from the “food” we should be eating. These verses remind us to simply, “come.”

1 Kings 19:1-8 – The Let Down

Read 1 Kings 19:1-8

Man looking into space with his head in his hands

It’s almost as if Elijah is giving up! We might wonder how he could even be afraid of Jezebel’s threats after the mighty way God showed up and used him. He probably did realize that, in spite of her oath, Jezebel’s gods wouldn’t kill her if she wasn’t successful. That just meant that Jezebel’s anger would live on, too.

Under the broom tree we see Elijah asking to die. He felt like he had done all he could. He was exhausted. He was depleted. It’s not surprising considering the great emotional high he just experienced on Mount Carmel.