Trapped In Death Cave

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

I’m sure that is how Obadiah felt. As he was
serving as the house overseer for the wicked King Ahab, he had risked his life to protect the prophets of the Lord from the wrath of Queen Jezebel. He holed them up in a cave, provided them with supplies, and divided them up so they couldn’t be as easily discovered. This act of kindness had put him in danger for years.

And then he had stumbled on the most wanted man in Israel, the prophet Elijah.

“He said, What sin have I committed, that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death?”

1^st Kings 18:9

Ahab had searched far and wide for Elijah. Now Elijah wanted Obadiah to go and tell him that he had been found. Obadiah could see how bad this could go. What would happen if he told Ahab he found him and Elijah wasn’t there? What would happen to those he was protecting? Had Ahab found out about his saving the prophets? Would he kill him? Obadiah had done the right thing and now it seemed he was going to pay the cost for it.

But that wasn’t in God's plan. God was going to take care of the situation. Obadiah's goodness wasn’t punished it was about to be justified.

In the wicked world today, we can feel like Obadiah. In trying to do right it feels like we get grief coming and going. Those in the wrong attack us for what we do, others attack us for not doing enough. We feel trapped in a no-win situation like those prophets hiding in those caves.

We need to remember the word of Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.” Doing good may not make your life easy in the moment but it will be recognized by God. Serving God and his people may not be easy but it will be worth it!

Comments

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission. It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...

The Right to Arm Bears

In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head. As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!" When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25 It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...

The Mighty Gulf

It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding. To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two. Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God? In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...

Ecclesiastes 12:10

Search This Blog