1 Kings 22
In this passage the divided kingdom of Israel collaborates together to defeat the Syrian army inhabiting one of their territories. Before they finally agree to join together they listen to the prophets of their gods prophesy victory in rather eccentric ways. The king of Judah asks king Ahab if there are any other prophets to hear from. Ahab's response is that there is but that the missing prophet never speaks anything good so he wasn't invited. This statement foreshadows how the rest of the story will go. The point of reflection though is what we are really asking when we want input from God.
When we ask for a "Word from The Lord" what does our desire really want for? Are we looking for divine direction to alter our course and set us upon eternally significant ground? Are we instead looking for a confirmation to do what our hearts already desire to do? If I were to be honest, I must admit that the majority of the time I desire God's direction it is to legitimize my own plans. I want a divine supporter of my earthly plans. Another way of saying this is that I want my will done in heaven as it is on earth.
Those who have studied their Bibles know the error in this statement. It is not my will done in heaven but God's will done on earth. In contrast with my previously admitted flaw, a real Word from The Lord will rarely coincide perfectly with the plans of my heart. This not to say that everything I desire to do is against the will of God. I haven confidence that my heart is continually being brought into the image of God's very own heart. My desires should be in line with the Word I know clearly and my passions should continually be for His glory. But there's something deeper to the actual plans of life than the vague desires to honor God.
It is very rare that in my own plans that my own flesh is not exalted in some way or another. Whether it is the timing of the plans that cause my flesh to never be bent or in the slight ways I have discovered through time that give me a pat on the back without actually asking for it. But when the very Word of The Lord actually does come there is always something within it that exposes those little fallacies that I didn't even know I had constructed. God's Word always gives Himself the glory. That glory will always come at the expense of my own.
So in the depths of my heart I must admit that I often feel like Ahab. When I've got a good plan that seems not only good but also accessible, I am slow to really want a Word form The Lord on it. If my life was written in a book these would be the moments where the reader is tipped off to the destruction coming. These area the moments when man tries to bend God rather than being willing to be freely bent by Him. Rarely does the real Word from The Lord please my heart in its entirety. However, there has never been a time when it was not the framework for the greatest joy.
Father, send me Your Word and may I hear it with joy. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your name be hallowed in my life. May I receive the very best You have to offer.
In this passage the divided kingdom of Israel collaborates together to defeat the Syrian army inhabiting one of their territories. Before they finally agree to join together they listen to the prophets of their gods prophesy victory in rather eccentric ways. The king of Judah asks king Ahab if there are any other prophets to hear from. Ahab's response is that there is but that the missing prophet never speaks anything good so he wasn't invited. This statement foreshadows how the rest of the story will go. The point of reflection though is what we are really asking when we want input from God.
When we ask for a "Word from The Lord" what does our desire really want for? Are we looking for divine direction to alter our course and set us upon eternally significant ground? Are we instead looking for a confirmation to do what our hearts already desire to do? If I were to be honest, I must admit that the majority of the time I desire God's direction it is to legitimize my own plans. I want a divine supporter of my earthly plans. Another way of saying this is that I want my will done in heaven as it is on earth.
Those who have studied their Bibles know the error in this statement. It is not my will done in heaven but God's will done on earth. In contrast with my previously admitted flaw, a real Word from The Lord will rarely coincide perfectly with the plans of my heart. This not to say that everything I desire to do is against the will of God. I haven confidence that my heart is continually being brought into the image of God's very own heart. My desires should be in line with the Word I know clearly and my passions should continually be for His glory. But there's something deeper to the actual plans of life than the vague desires to honor God.
It is very rare that in my own plans that my own flesh is not exalted in some way or another. Whether it is the timing of the plans that cause my flesh to never be bent or in the slight ways I have discovered through time that give me a pat on the back without actually asking for it. But when the very Word of The Lord actually does come there is always something within it that exposes those little fallacies that I didn't even know I had constructed. God's Word always gives Himself the glory. That glory will always come at the expense of my own.
So in the depths of my heart I must admit that I often feel like Ahab. When I've got a good plan that seems not only good but also accessible, I am slow to really want a Word form The Lord on it. If my life was written in a book these would be the moments where the reader is tipped off to the destruction coming. These area the moments when man tries to bend God rather than being willing to be freely bent by Him. Rarely does the real Word from The Lord please my heart in its entirety. However, there has never been a time when it was not the framework for the greatest joy.
Father, send me Your Word and may I hear it with joy. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your name be hallowed in my life. May I receive the very best You have to offer.
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