May the mumbling commence!
We may be able to disguise ourselves and our motives
from other people, but we cannot disguise ourselves or our motives from the
Lord. God’s will is going to
happen. We can bank on it. So, why ignore or resist God’s will for our
lives. Read from the story of King Ahab
in First Kings chapter twenty-two:
So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led
their armies against Ramoth-Gilead. Now King Ahab
said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself so no one will recognize me, but you wear your royal robes."
So Ahab disguised himself, and they went into battle.
Now the king of Aram had issued these orders to his
thirty-two charioteers: "Attack only the king of Israel!" So when
the Aramean charioteers saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after
him. "There is the king of Israel!" they shouted. But when Jehoshaphat cried out, the
charioteers realized he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped chasing
him.
An Aramean soldier, however, randomly shot an arrow at
the Israelite troops, and the arrow hit the king of Israel between the joints
of his armor. "Get me out of here!" Ahab groaned to the
driver of his chariot. "I have been badly wounded!" The battle raged all that day, and Ahab was
propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The
blood from his wound ran down to the floor of his chariot, and as evening
arrived he died. Just as the sun was
setting, the cry ran through his troops: "It's all over – return
home!" So the king died, and his
body was taken to Samaria and buried there.
Then his chariot was washed beside the pool of Samaria, where the
prostitutes bathed, and dogs came
and licked the king's blood, just as the Lord
had promised.
(Verses 29-38)
Ahab created two layers of disguise. He did not wear his royal robes, and he
demanded that Jehoshaphat wear his royal attire. King Jehoshaphat was sure to be a
target. And he was. But the Lord protected him by revealing his
true identity through his voice.
And even though the Aramean army did not recognize Ahab,
the Lord did. God guided a stray,
randomly shot arrow to find its mark between the joints of Ahab’s armor. And the prediction of the Lord came true just
as the prophet Elijah had spoken. “You
can’t hide your lying eyes” – just as the rock group the Eagles say.
It was the same for the forty mercenaries whose goal it
was to kill Paul. They tried to fool the
Roman authorities with the rouse of giving Paul another trial – only so they
could waylay the group bringing Paul back and killing Paul. They would not eat or drink until their plan
succeeded. Read from Acts chapter
twenty-three:
The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound
themselves with an oath to neither eat nor drink until they had killed
Paul. There were more than forty of
them. They
went to the leading priests and other leaders and told them what they had done.
"We have bound ourselves under oath to neither eat nor drink until we have
killed Paul. You and the high council should tell the commander to bring Paul back
to the council again," they requested. "Pretend you want to examine
his case more fully. We will kill him on the way."
But Paul's nephew heard of their plan and went to the
fortress and told Paul. Paul
called one of the officers and said, "Take this young man to the
commander. He has something important to tell him."
So the officer
did, explaining, "Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring
this young man to you because he has something to tell you."
The commander
took him by the arm, led him aside, and asked, "What is it you want to
tell me?"
Paul's nephew
told him, "Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the Jewish
high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. But don't do it! There are more than forty
men hiding along the way ready to jump him and kill him. They have vowed not to
eat or drink until they kill him. They are ready, expecting you to agree to
their request."
"Don't let a soul know you told me this," the
commander warned the young man as he sent him away. (Verses 12-22)
God sees and knows our motives more than we do
ourselves. When we try to resist the
will of God, we will find ourselves starving in more way than one. It is a fruitless effort to disguise our
motives in opposition to the Lord.
So,
why try?
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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