Hezekiah’s father was a pagan. He closed up the Temple, followed the gods of other nations, and made altars to them on the corners of Jerusalem and in every city in Judah. When Hezekiah came to the throne, reestablishing worship of God appears to have been his first order of business. On the first day of his reign, he had the Levites begin cleansing and repairing the Temple. On the eighth day, the cleansing was complete and sacrifices to the Lord resumed. I found myself wondering what was the source of his zeal for God. Did he see the fruit of his father’s way, which included defeat at the hands of many neighbors and the resulting loss of territory and captivity of his people? Did he have a mother who was a believer and taught him the ways of God? Maybe he had godly counselors who were influential before he came to the throne? We don’t know. But we do know that on the first day of his reign his goal was restoring the worship of the true God. His own reign was not trouble free, but his faithfulness made a difference when Assyria attacked Jerusalem. I am reminded that God also deserves to be my number one priority. When he is preeminent in my life, the other claims on my life are in proper balance; it helps me live life in the best possible way.
meditation
Cheerful and Not Cheerful Hearts
I am not a naturally cheerful person and at one point in time I began to meditate on two verses that I thought would help me remember the value of a cheerful heart. Both verses underscore a positive attitude as being a blessing in life, but I have found that the greatest lesson for me comes from the contrasting negative attitudes.
One verse is Proverbs 15:15, which says, “All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.” I am convinced that whether my days are spent in affliction or in feasting is a result of the way I choose to respond to life events. I have seen people respond to things that would irritate me as if they were no big deal—and in truth, they probably are not. I’ve read biographies of people who have gone through harrowing times, and chose to look to God for hope, to seek his wisdom for how they should respond. Realistically, they were afflicted, but they did not think like it or live like it. Their response kept them from living as afflicted in circumstances that were afflicting.
The other is Proverbs 17:20, “A joyful heart causes good healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” After reflecting on what causes a broken spirit, I believe it is a symptom of a loss of hope. I think a loss of hope in everyday life is likely to be the fruit of repeated disappointment—unfulfilled expectations. One way I experience such disappointment is when I fail to be realistic. I am a sinner living among sinners; why should I expect life without irritations, broken promises, conflicts, or unfulfilled expectations, some of which are my own fault? The only things I can truly count on are God’s promises—and even there I need to be careful to not build expectations in my mind about when or how God will fulfill those promises. He is the only one who knows the end from the beginning and it is wise to trust his love and his knowledge when I am faced with disappointment. I do not want negative life circumstances to leave me with a broken spirit. I want to see God’s love, mercy, and grace instead.
I have come to the conclusion that my response to life’s pressures is directly related to the level of trust I have in God. The assurance of God’s love helps me to believe God is using for good that which I find hard or unpleasant. As he has increased my understanding of his personal care for me, I find I have a greater willingness to accept life as it is, instead of complaining about it, and to seek God’s wisdom for how I should respond to that reality.
Reflection on the book of Job:
I recently finished reading the book of Job. The predominant world view of Job’s three friends is that God rewards those who do well and punishes those who do evil. Thus, Job’s friends tell him if he would just repent, things would be well for him again. I think it was also Job’s world view, which is why he struggled to make sense of his suffering—he repeatedly insists he’s was not aware of any sin he needed to repent of. (This attitude irks his friends so much they end up accusing him of evil!) When Elihu joins the conversation, he focuses on the fact that God is greater than man and does not have to give an account to anyone for what he does, but he also makes it clear that he, too, believes Job has sinned. God, however, does not accuse Job of sin.
When God has finished speaking, Job is satisfied. It is not because he now understands why he has experienced such suffering; God never addresses that question. But Job does have an experience of hearing God and I think that’s what he needed most. This is true for me, too. When life is hard, I don’t so much need to know why it’s hard as to know that God is near and still cares, to hear his voice and know he has not forgotten me.
Thoughts on Habakkuk
This book reminds me of the state of the western church today. Habakkuk sees that God’s people are not really living as if they were God’s people, and he wants God to do something about it. So, God tells him the plan for dealing with the situation. Habakkuk is horrified! Maybe he thought a mild rebuke would suffice. Maybe he wanted people to change their ways without any discipline from God. He certainly did not want what God was planning! Although it is not explicitly stated, God’s defense of his plan can be summed up in three words: I am holy. God will execute justice, first for Israel and then for the nation that God uses to punish Israel. I love Habakkuk’s response when God is finished speaking: “Though the fig trees should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
In thinking on these verses, I realized how much I want that to be my attitude to life, “I will exult in God regardless of what life brings.” But I also found myself wondering: when it actually happened, did Habakkuk follow through? I thought about how sure Peter was that he would not deny Jesus and realized there can be a big difference between what we think we will do and what we actually do. Habakkuk, unlike Peter, was confident God’s prediction was true. Consequently, he was not blindsided when God’s word was fulfilled. I’m sure that was a help, but I wonder if knowing what was coming was enough to equip Habakkuk. Would it be enough for me? Or are there things I can do today that will help me face a tough tomorrow? Am I learning to use God’s grace to exalt God in the irritations of life? To see God’s holiness when I experience injustice? Am I relying on God’s wisdom and strength for daily decisions and burdens? If not, how likely am I to be able to live this way when faced with true hardship?
John 5:20
I’m currently studying the book of John and I came across something I don’t remember ever noticing before. This verse says the Father loves the Son (no surprise), but I noticed the word translated “love” is the Greek word “phileo.” I tend to think of phileo as a natural human love, while agape, the other word for love we find in the Greek New Testament, is the one I have associated with God’s love. Nowhere will you find phileo defined as “human love” or agape defined as “divine love,” but there is a reason I viewed these words in this way.
Phileo is the feeling of the heart—the affection one finds in close personal relationships or the comraderie that develops when people work closely together to reach a common goal. It is the fondness one expects when relationships are working well. It is also the word used when it talks about people loving places of honor—such a human-sounding love.
Agape is more a decision of the mind to do what is best for another. This is the kind of love God asks us to give to him and to our enemies. It is the kind of love that motivated Jesus to die on the cross for us and is listed in the fruit of the Spirit. While I know there are times when people act on behalf of those they don’t know or are kind to those they don’t like, the level of love God asks for goes beyond what I think we as people can do without him. Loving enemies is not natural. In 1 Thessalonians we are told to not repay anyone evil for evil; instead we are to seek to do good. Revenge is the more likely desire in the face of someone doing evil to me, but God says, “seek to do good.” I do not believe I have this kind of love within me, hence, I have seen agape as divine love.
The New Testament makes it clear that as Christians we are to give both kinds of love, so I really should not have been surprised that God gives both kinds of love. It broadens my thinking of God’s love to realize that it includes feelings of affection. That God’s affection extends beyond his love for the Son to human beings can be seen in the fact that the Gospels indicate that one of the complaints against Jesus was that he was the friend of tax collectors and sinners—he felt affection for them. It personalizes his love for me to know not only does he act in my best interests, but he likes me.
Addendum: When I reached John 16, I found verse 27 makes it explicit that God has affectionate feelings for people. It says, “…for the Father himself has loved you because you have loved me…” Phileo is the word used for “loved” in these verses.
Humility
During the past year I have experienced God speaking to me about humility many times. This has happened in a variety of ways, such as: Someone appreciating “wisdom” I had spoken into their lives—that I later saw may have been wrong. Extending “help” to someone before they needed it. Reading a book that made me realize that there is a poverty of spirit that often comes from having enough material goods. There are three scriptures that God has especially used to address this issue in me.
The first passage is 1 Chronicles 29:14. The Israelites have contributed toward the future building of the temple and David says to God, “Who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from you, and from your hand we have given you.” This passage reminds me of two things:
- Who am I? God’s blessings on my life are far beyond what I deserve.
- All good things come from God. The only way I can bless anyone is by sharing God’s blessings to me.
The second one is from 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 where Paul tells the Corinthians to consider that not many of them were wise, powerful, or of noble birth. God has chosen, Paul says, what is foolish, weak, low, and despised in the world. His purpose is that no one might boast in his presence. My take away? God wants people to be impressed by him when they see what he has been able to do with me. (Oh, look, the caterpillar has become a butterfly!)
The third one is from Philippians 2:3-8. In this passage, we are called to humility and to take on Jesus’ attitude. Instead of acting out of selfishness or conceit, we are, in humility, to regard others as more important than ourselves and look out for their interests. We are then told to take on the attitude that Jesus had, who emptied himself and took on the form of a slave (by being made in the likeness of man). He was able to do this because he did not consider his equality with God as something to be grasped and was willing to be obedient, even when it meant death on the cross. This is the lesson I have taken from this passage: Jesus knew who he was. Taking on the form of a slave did not detract from who he was; it was just the form required to accomplish his mission. Knowing who I am in Christ should mean walking in freedom to love and serve others—unconcerned about how it may make me look in the eyes of others, ready to be whatever God needs me to be—that I might participate in the building of God’s kingdom.