03/03/2021 – Day 290 – 2 Chronicles 20 – 24 // “Trials tend to bring us to the safety of our knees” – 20: 2,3//
Let’s look at 20: 2,3: “Then some came and told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria, and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”
Now let’s connect up with 1 Peter: 1: 6, 7 as my Evidence Bible suggests to see further the fruit of tribulation for the true convert: “In this you greatly rejoice , though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, thought it be tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ…”
So, in the context of His kingdom, our suffering can be an opportunity to glorify the Lord even more. And our angel cheering section is roused all the more as well. For as Voddie Baucham pointed out, we are not engaged in a war against other souls, but make no mistake about it, it has been a raging spiritual battle all the way back to the garden. So, what does this integration of scripture between old testament and new testament offer us as warriors for Christ? I submit it highlights : “fear, seek, fast, and pray”. And that is always a good thing. Therefore, we have an answer, at least in part, to “why do ‘good’ people suffer?”
I also recall my Dad telling me how he empathized with our baby boomer generation in that his world war 2 generation suffered much in their youth, what with the great depression and then Pearl Harbor right after high school graduation. He added: “after WW2, it was all seemingly gravy from there, for we had been through the fire so to speak.” In contrast, his point was that we had relatively idyllic years in our youth. And his implication was that he sensed that we were looking at trials in our elderly years and that he thought that paradoxically, his generation had the easier route. Not good for us, as we entered those years being relatively “soft” compared to the WW2 generation.
And next week, I pray that I remember to connect: “We can do the right thing without a wholeheartedness.” when we pick it back up at 2 Chronicles 25. (verse 2). And that brings me back to my humorous memory when I told a female colleague that “feelings mean nothing!”. (she showed me her shocked face and I thought: “you dug yourself a hole on that one, Jimmy!”) It’s extreme but we perhaps need more of that, to counteract the extreme excess of our current day society where “feelings are everything”, or so it would seem to an astute observer. And by the way, humor can be a tool for us as well.
Soli Deo Gloria!