After this Faithfulness

In the Word of God, the story of Hezekiah, his predecessor and his successor, reveal how each generation can bring death/destruction or life/restoration. When Hezekiah became king after his father’s death—a king who emptied and shut the doors of the house of the Lord—it is written of this new king, “He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that David his father (forefather) had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord [which his father had closed’ and repaired them [and replaced the gold overlay].” (2 Chronicles 29:2-3 AMP)

 

Then, the reforms began. Temple worship was restored. The Passover was celebrated. Idols were destroyed. And reforms continued. And the Word of God says, “…he did what was good, right, and true before the Lord his God. Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in keeping with the law and the commandment, seeking and inquiring of his God [and longing for Him], he did with all his heart and prospered.”

 

Yet … 2 Chronicles 32 begins, “After these things and this faithfulness” the enemy came. What? “After…this faithfulness”? He was doing the right things and the enemy came?

 

Did Hezekiah panic? Did he ask, “Why?” No. He makes a decision to get to work. He encouraged his people, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed…for the One with us is greater than the one with [the enemy]. With him there is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” (32:7-8a)

 

When the enemy ramped up his threat, Hezekiah ramped up his defense. With Isaiah the prophet, he prayed and cried out to heaven. And the Lord God showed the enemy—and His people—that He was not an idol, that He was unlike the gods of the other nations the enemy had overcome.

 

The point?

 

Sometimes we do everything “right in the sight of the Lord,” yet the enemy puts us or our children on his radar. Bad things happen. Then what?

 

Let’s choose to follow Hezekiah’s example.

 

Instead of panic, let’s resolutely set to work (32:5). Let’s choose to recall to mind and mouth who our God is (32:7-8). Let’s pray and cry out for help (32:20)—and not just by ourselves, but with others. And then, let’s wait upon the Lord God to do what only He can do.

 

Simple? No. Possible? Yes! Because it all begins with the first step, just as it did with Hezekiah, “In the first year of his reign, in the first month…”

 

Perhaps Hezekiah remembered the words of his father (forefather) David—

 

Some trust in chariots and some in horses

but we will remember and trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Psalm 20:7 (AMP)

 

 

 

Shoulder to Shoulder

A “Bing Homepage Quiz” recently showed a photo of three lionesses, shoulder to shoulder, with the question, “What do these lionesses do together?”

 

The options were:

A.    Keep the males in check

B.     Hunt

C.     Everything

 

The answer? Everything!

 

Lionesses, often siblings, form the core of any given pride. And to keep the group functioning, they coordinate everything from rearing cubs, to hunting, to protecting the pride. (Bing)

 

Hmm. Does that sound familiar, moms?

 

So, did you notice one thing I described about the photo? They were shoulder to shoulder. They weren't doing it alone.

 

Zephaniah 3:9 (NASB), speaks of the Lord’s people serving Him shoulder to shoulder, in one accord, of one consent. Matthew Henry wrote that the word alludes to oxen in a yoke. Benson’s Commentary agrees, noting that it is a metaphor “taken from beasts drawing together in one yoke, or men setting their shoulders together to one burden.” Or, to say it another way, “helping one another with conjoint effort.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

 

This is a perfect picture of one accord prayer, the kind of prayer the ministry of Moms in Prayer disciples women to do for their children and schools. Moms are taught to “join shoulder to shoulder in carrying great burdens.” (Matthew Poole’s Commentary) In fact, that is quite what Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible writes: Believers “should join in fellowship with one another, and sing the praises of God together; agree in prayer to ask of God the same things…”

 

I’ve found that one accord prayer helps accomplish the melding of the members Christ’s Body together to act like the body we should be as opposed to individuals. In Moms in Prayer, this even crosses “church” boundaries.

 

As Christ’s return draws near, the enemy’s attacks will strengthen. We need each other’s shoulders to help us stand firm, to persevere in faith until the end. This is the community—shoulder to shoulder—that the early church described in the Book of Acts experienced that resulted in great power, great grace and growth amidst trial and tribulation. THIS is what Christ’s Body needs today.

 

In fact, it’s what Jesus prayed for us that night in the Garden (John 17:11, 20-23 NASB):

 

I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. … I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

 

Like lionesses, moms, we need to do everything together, shoulder-to-shoulder, to be strong and stand firm as we rear our cubs and protect our pride. Take a risk. Trust the Body. Don’t go it alone.