Being a Faithful Voice
(S) Scripture
2 Chronicles 36:15-17 (NIV)
15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.
16 But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.
17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.
(O) Observation
Over and over God sent the prophets with a message for the people. Again and again he pleaded with them to be faithful to Him and warned them of the consequences. Regardless of the message the people and their kings did what was evil in the sight of God and judgment was coming. It is interesting that God worked and moved through an unrighteous king to accomplish his judgment. Sometimes God uses the ungodly to bring about his purposes.
(A) Application
I am struck by two things in this passage:
1. That God would use the unrighteous to accomplish his purpose. So often I simply write off the actions of the unrighteous to evil and yet here God used these kinds of actions to bring about His purpose. I need to be more discerning in my judgments in the future to see if God is at work even if it is in bringing judgment to his people.
2. That God continued to send messenger after messenger to the people even though they did not listen. The messengers continued as the faithful voice of God even when they were not listening.
As we are coming up on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 I recall how millions of people flocked to churches in the aftermath of the attacks. Now it seems that we again moved away from that. As a pastor I am called to be that faithful voice regardless of the response of the people.
(P) Prayer
Lord, grant me the courage, strength, and resolve to faithfully declare your word. Help me to make my words reflect your words and my ways to reflect your ways. Help me to make a difference in the lives of those around me for you, Amen
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