I had to stop reading and start writing after verses 6 through 8 today because it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about, and I didn’t want to forget that I was thinking about it before I got to the end of the chapter. Look at verse 6 in particular: “Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The Lord is right in doing this to us!’” Now, let’s take just the first part of that sentence and analyze the holiness out of it. “Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves.” This struck a cord with me today because I have been rejoicing lately in seeing what seems to be the downward slide of this global pandemic we have all experienced together. And I wondered how many prayers it took and how many people humbled themselves on the behalf of others in order to get to the point of relief that we are seeing today. I certainly can’t claim the glory, and I would bet the numbers are astonishingly low. Have I prayed for the pandemic to subside? Yes, on occasion. Have I fervently and faithfully prayed for God to have mercy on this planet and everyone living on it? No. Have I interceded for those not willing to humble themselves and give God the recognition, respect, dedication, admiration and love that He deserves? No, I have not. But I can tell you from my experience in missions that other people have. We could probably fit all those people under one roof, too. (And I bet if we got them all in the same room together something incredible would happen!) I take this completely for granted. My random prayers might please God once in a while, but these people, the ones who are humbling themselves on behalf of others who don’t know them and will never know what has been done for them, are the voices that are getting God’s attention. Remember Moses? Well, that was a silly question, I know. But he was a perfect example of interceding for others, and he seemed to be the only person doing much of it at that time. In other words, interceding for people during big stuff is a task attempted (or even considered) by few people, and that still is a sad fact, yet a reason to rejoice, today. Rejoice because we know a few can rescue millions. Thank you, few!
Now, on with the remainder of the chapter. While God did spare the Israelites from complete ruin, He didn’t leave them lessonless. He let the King of Egypt rob their treasuries and take a whole bunch of stuff that probably would be pretty cool collector’s items today. And even though King Rehoboam did show some promise a few times in his life, God still saw him as an evil king. Sad.
Writing prompt: humble yo’self!
We all have a few ways we could work on our own humility. Write about one way you could better humble yourself with something/someone in your life today.
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