June 21; Day 28

2 Kings 15-2 Kings 25:30

One step forward and two steps back. A good king then three or four bad kings. Then maybe two good kings and another one or two bad ones... but the cycle never stops. There is never a continual run of good kings... nor is there a continual run of bad kings. Why is this? I found myself pondering this question. Why wouldn't God just let the nation slide into oblivion if that is what they want so badly? OR if they were His chosen people, why wouldn't he just continue to raise up godly leaders to follow him and lead his people towards him? Think about this for a moment. It makes my head hurt when I ponder it. We know God had given us free will... we see it exercised many times when a king chooses to do something contrary to God's plans. So if we are evil at heart and can't do right on our own... how are people able to make good Godly choices in a fallen world? On the other hand, if God really wanted Israel to prosper, why wouldn't he have just intervened on their behalf? I don't know that I have an answer... but it is clear from reading this history, that there was an ebb and a flow to Israel's obedience and consequential blessings (or curses.)

Two things hit me here as I ponder this... the call for unity... and God's discipleship of his people.

First the call for unity. Perhaps it is so difficult to gain forward momentum because everyone in Israel was shooting at a different goal. Some were trying to follow the Lord, and others were trying to do whatever they could to avoid following Him. So occasionally a leader would surface who would be able to get more people following the Lord than not and blessings would result... but there is still were those who were distracting their efforts and so full blessing was not realized. Then there were leaders who - intentional or not - encouraged the people to fall away from God's plan. Obviously God couldn't bless this. Now fast forward to today. God has protected and preserved a remnant on this earth. Those people who are called by God to serve and worship Him. Through them, His Word has been preserved through the ages and His work is being accomplished on this earth. Yet there are those who remain "outside" of the remnant. And either intentional or not - they are distracting God's work from being accomplished. We're all not firing in the same direction and of course it is difficult to gain forward momentum when this is the case. Even within the Church we can't agree to serve Him in unison. We're so concerned about our own individual ways.... and serving Him in our own unique way - that sometimes we're even shooting over the church next door in our efforts. There will always be evil in this fallen world. In order to shine God's light brighter, we need to be unified to gain forward momentum against the enemy of this World.

Secondly, God's discipleship of his people. I remember talking to a mentor once in my office. It was soon after I started my career and he was giving me advice. His advice was to view the challenges in the workplace as a way to develop "heart wood." What he was doing was comparing developing as a person to the way a young tree develops. As a tree grows it is often susceptible to the winds and the weather. If the wind blows too hard the tree is in jeopardy of blowing over or breaking. But there is a certain amount of stress necessary for the tree to develop strength. If the tree never faces any resistance, it will topple under its own weight as it grows, because it never developed any heart wood.

As I read about the struggles of the nation of Israel and feel the "two steps forward and one steps back" push and pull occur, I realize that perhaps God is disciplining His people to develop heart wood. Making them stronger now, so that as they grow and are prospered, they will not topple under their own weight. There is a certain amount of challenge they need to be able to realize their dependence on God. They need to know He is God and they are not. Likewise, they need to realize that their actions have consequences - both good and bad.

Have we learned these lessons today? Are we developing heart wood? Perhaps the remnant God has preserved is growing stronger. I see that every day. Some of the Christians I know are getting deeper and deeper in their relationship with the Lord. Yet, as a whole, I see less and less of us truly depending on God. When times are tough, it seems we have to have a "fall guy" to take the blame for anything. Why are gas prices high? Who's fault is it that the middle east is in turmoil? Who is going to lose their job because of the sub-prime lending crisis? Rather than repenting as a nation, we blame individuals and sink further and further into our individualistic world. Until we realize were all interconnected and one's decisions have implications for more than just themselves; and until we realize that God's discipleship process is not easy, we are not likely to see more than "one step forward and two steps back."