READY:
“At the time of his distress, King Ahaz himself became more unfaithful to the Lord.” – 2 Chronicles 28:22
SET:
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king in Jerusalem. He had a clear pattern for what honored God (his father King Jotham was one of the godly kings of Judah) and yet he chose to go after the pattern of the evil northern kings. The king dealt with great trial and defeat because of the evil he continued to live out before the Lord. And yet, at the time of his distress, he became more unfaithful; he didn’t turn back from his ways.
I once heard a coach say that how you deal with adversity reveals much about your character. The pressure reveals your strengths and the contents of what’s inside of you. What happens when times of distress come for you? Are you willing to look up and see what God might be trying to teach you in that moment? Or do you, like Ahaz, just become more unfaithful? What about with the godly examples God has placed in your life? Are you humble enough to learn from them and direct your life accordingly or are you unwilling and demand going your own way?
If we look at Proverbs 27:17, we see the importance of having community with the godly people God sends us to learn from. The verse says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.” Ahaz had two groups he could pull from: the godly kings of Judah (his father in particular) or the wicked northern kings of Israel. When he was given the opportunity to choose for himself, he didn’t choose the group that would sharpen him into becoming the king God created him to be. He chose the group that would dull him into becoming another wicked king people would need to be delivered from.
The good news here is that even though King Ahaz lived a life of unfaithfulness to the Lord, his son Hezekiah reigned after him and he “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD,” (2 Chronicles 29:2). There will always be two groups of people in our lives: those who dull us to the sound of God’s voice and His statutes and those who sharpen us to be able to better hear His voice. We see what happened to Ahaz because of which group he chose. Which group will you choose?
GO:
Which group are you currently pulling from in your own life?
How might you apply Ahaz’s lesson to your life today?
WORKOUT:
OVERTIME:
“Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for the example of Ahaz. I can be just as unfaithful as Ahaz, choosing to run away from You instead of turning to You in repentance and finding rest. Lord, I pray for a heart of repentance and a discerning mind to choose wisely those who will sharpen me. In Jesus’ name, amen.”