These passages are during what I call the good king/bad king era of God’s people. Israel would have a good king who would lead not perfectly, but faithfully, and God’s favor would be on the land. Then the successor would revert to honoring the “small g” pagan gods and surprisingly it would not go well. Then a good king would ascend to the throne and favor would return. Rinse/repeat.
In 2 Chronicles 31-32, King Hezekiah honored the Lord… And it went well. Their enemies are repelled and there is health and wealth in the land. Hold please… this does not mean that honoring God equates to wealth and prosperity. That is a false gospel. It merely suggests that honoring God matters because God is worthy of our praise. And it will always be better for you, especially for eternity, if you follow God’s path vs. your own or the world’s.
When Hezekiah dies his son Manasseh ascends to the throne. He did not honor God and shockingly, it didn’t work well. However, a rare thing happens in this cycle of leadership, and while in captivity, Manasseh turns back to God and his reign ends with him restoring God’s place in the kingdom. Then his son does not honor the Lord when he takes over… It doesn’t go well. Rinse/repeat.
What can we draw from these chapters? Not surprisingly, we too can see saw in our faith. There are seasons in our walk where we are very in tune with God and what God wants and there are seasons where we don’t. Essentially, we have a choice… choose to follow or not… When we choose not to go God’s way, we can easily get lost and find ourselves wondering where God is or why we aren’t feeling joy in life. When we choose to follow God, we find a peace and a joy that is not based on our circumstances but rather on a loving relationship with the creator of the universe who calls us his beloved. So to go back to Joshua for a moment; choose today who you will serve.
Questions for reflection:
- When you look back at the seasons of your life, can you identify times when you were in tune with God and times that you weren’t? What were those seasons like?
- When you are in tune with God, what does joy and peace look like for you?
- Choose today to seek God if you are finding yourself in a season of wandering…