It doesn't take long as we go through life to see that we are born with a great sense of things needing to be fair. Children cry out that it's not fair that the oldest sibling gets to stay up later. Teenagers protest that a friend gets to go to an activity and they don't. People argue that it's not fair when they've done the right thing and someone else gets rich for being dishonest. I think it's unfair that my friend can eat chocolate and french fries and donuts and ice cream and potato chips and still be a skinny Minnie while I just look at those incredibly wonderful foods and balloon up another dress size. Life just doesn't seem fair ...
I was reading an "unfair" account this morning in my quiet time in 1 Kings 13. We have Jeroboam, a son of a slave who was given the kingdom of Israel and led the kingdom away in apostasy. His god is being king and he will do everything in his power to hang on to the kingship. We have a lying, deceitful prophet who caused someone else to stumble. And, we have a younger prophet who has done what God has asked him to do. However, the younger prophet listens to the lie of the older prophet and changes his path ... and winds up dying due to disobedience. Uhm, Jeroboam didn't immediately die in discipline for his sin of creating a false religion in Israel. The lying prophet didn't immediately die for his sin of deceiving someone else and leading to their destruction. But the younger prophet? The hammer fell on him. Talk about unfair!
All kinds of things go through my mind. What about the punishment of Jeroboam? What about the punishment of the lying prophet? The younger prophet winds up dead by the side of the road for all to see ... and these other two guys get away scott-free? As I read this story, I felt my flesh shaking a fist to God that "it's not fair!"
But His Spirit that lives within me whispers that I know Him. Let Him take me deeper in this story. Let Him open my eyes to justice, to fairness, keeping in mind His character and His goodness. Let Him teach me.
Immediately my mind went to a time when life appeared to be very unfair for me. In His Word and through His Spirit, God had told me to forgive the unforgiveable, to love the unloveable, to respect the disrespectable, to trust the untrustworthy. How unfair that was! How painful that was! And what about me? What about my feelings, my protection, my desires? What about the dark circumstances around me? Someone else was getting away with sin and destruction while I had to seemingly pay for it?
God spent 4+ years working in me, preparing me for this time. He showed me Who He was and His great love for me. He revealed who I was in Him. He taught me what love, respect, and trust truly were. Regardless of the circumstances around me, regardless of the difficulty of the task, I was called to walk in obedience to Him, in relationship with Him as we walked this tortuous road before us. His commands? Love -- regardless. Respect -- regardless. Obey -- regardless. Trust Him -- regardless.
It wasn't fair. I didn't like it.
- what often seems fair to me is short-sighted. It's not seeing deeply enough.
- God knows better than I do the way life should be lived.
- once God speaks to me, I cling to that as absolute unless He speaks differently later.
- I take all thoughts captive and present them to Him for verification and clarity.
- I am a part of God's purpose and plan to show other people Him.
When I asked God to take me deeper in to this story, I saw the issue with the younger prophet. He had been obedient to the Lord and done just what God required him to do in delivering the message to Jeroboam of judgment. He had done just what God asked him when he refused to eat bread or drink water with Jeroboam. In his mind, the task was done ... and he was sitting under a tree.
I can imagine the picture. The prophet is under the tree, relaxing after a difficult, emotional, dangerous task of saying unwelcome words to a powerful king. He had seen God work. He had been moved by God's faithfulness. Now, it was time to relax, to let his guard down, to get back to life as normal. Many times being called by God isn't a fun thing for us, particularly our flesh. We're ready to get back to the fairness of eating donuts, right?
As he's sitting there under a tree, an older gentleman comes up to him and invites him to his house for food and drink. The younger prophet refuses, stating that God told him not to. Then, the older prophet lies saying an angel of God spoke to him also, that he was told the younger man was to come with him. So the younger prophet did.
There's the problem. He heard another word, but instead of taking that word to God for verification and clarity, he just accepted it. Why? Because he was hungry and thirsty. Because he was tired. Because he was ready to just coast and not have to work anymore. Because it was a word that he wanted to hear rather than the word God had put before him. Little did he know that his job wasn't over. If he had taken the deceptive word he had been given to the Lord, God would have surely revealed the truth.
Instead, the younger prophet went with the deceitful older prophet and it wound up leading to the disciplining death of the younger man.
Friend, this is what I see here. When God calls me to something, it is a call that is to be focused on Him -- not my feelings, desires, or circumstances. When God calls me to something, it is understood that it is for His glory and my good, even though it seems impossible or painful to do. When God calls me to something, there is an incredible plan and reason for it -- one I may not readily understand or see, but I can know it's there.
I feel like the lessons regarding the young prophet are these:
- Do not quit unless God tells you to quit.
- If something is contrary to the word God has given you, just because it's what you feel or desire, don't change course.
- Any "new" word or direction needs to be taken to Him for verification and clarification.
- Trust Him in His plan even though you don't see or understand.
- Know that He is good.
Life will always seem unfair because we're looking with our eyes of flesh. Sometimes God will reveal the "why" of the situation, but sometimes we just have to trust that He's doing what is best without understanding why. God asks much of His children, but we also know that He goes with us and enables us each step of the way. If He asks it of us, it means we're ready for that step. We can trust Him.
One day, our obedience and faithfulness will lead to more than the temporal yumminess of donuts. There will be a crown and a "well done, thou good and faithful servant." Hang in there with me, friend! Our endurance and trust in Him promise fellowship with Him now and rewards for eternity.
