Guidelines For Living Devotional

If ever a man had reason to feel that God had let him down, that man was Hezekiah.  "Hezekiah who?" you may be saying. Hezekiah, the king of Judah who ascended the throne of David about 726 B.C. If you're a bit rusty on Old Testament history, I'll brief you.  Having replaced his father Ahaz, who had been a careless ruler, Hezekiah got his act together.  He began a great reformation. He broke down the idols Ahaz had set up.  He re-opened the temple, and restored the service of God. He even dipped into his own funds to provide for restoration and repairs. 

There is always a story behind the story!  Whether it is the National Geographic magazine or the Bible, you have to go beyond the headline.  I'm thinking of a statement written long ago.   It's found in the Old Testament book of Chronicles where we read:  "After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah..." (2 Chronicles 32:1).  What's the story behind the headline?

When she was 16 years of age, Elisabeth Elliot wrote in the back of her Bible the words of a prayer written by Betty Stam, who was martyred in China.  The prayer read, "Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept thy will for my life.  I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to thee to be thine forever.  Fill me and seal me with thy Holy Spirit, use me as thou wilt, send me where thou wilt, work out thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."

Question: If you were tempted, is it possible that under certain circumstances, you might not be able to resist?  It isn't a question of whether or not you could resist; it's simply that you know you possibly would not.  At that moment, your brain would shut off and feelings would take over.  You would not think about the fact what you would do could destroy your career, your marriage, your integrity.  Under certain circumstances you just don't think; you act.

All he wanted to do was to burglarize the apartment he had broken into, so he told the court, but when he saw the sleeping victim who had shed most of her clothing on that warm summer evening, he said that he was unable to control himself.  When he was arrested and brought to court, he explained that he was suffering from a thyroid illness which made him lose control of his passions; therefore, he argued, he was not responsible.  The court, however, didn't buy that line of reasoning and found him guilty of both rape and burglary.

A Cambodian man was so infuriated when he came home and found his wife gone and no lunch on the table that he set fire to the family house and burned it to the ground. The 37-year-old husband told police that he wanted to teach his wife a lesson.  The police, however, felt that he had some lessons to learn himself and detained him in the local jail where he was assured of regular meals.

Why God chooses to use some and not others who seemingly have far greater talents and abilities has never been completely clear to me.  The fact is that God often uses individuals who have little in the natural to recommend them.  I think of Gideon, who demanded a sign from God, and Barak the military leader who wouldn't face the enemy unless a woman went with him; Rahab, the prostitute, who was of the lineage of Jesus Christ.  Include the twelve who were common fishermen, farmers, tax collectors and laborers, who walked with Jesus... along with St. Augustine, Mary Slessor, the Scottish lass who left such a mark on Africa in the nineteenth century, and on and on.  But two common threads seem to be evident:  Men and women who are used by God in some measure or capacity are people of simple faith, and have lives characterized by complete obedience.

Success, says the dictionary, is "the degree or measure of succeeding," or "the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence."  It's the latter definition which is the one our kids embrace.  Success is the shiny new car, the most sophisticated computer, the Rolex watch--or at least something stylish and better than the Timex variety.  It often includes a beautiful girl on your arm, or a handsome guy who has the looks and the car to match.

It's a catch-22 situation, one where you can't win.  That expression "catch-22" was made famous by a book by the same title, one that came out of the war experiences of Joseph Heller.  Heller was flying over France in World War 2 when shrapnel hit his plane, a B-25 bomber.  Up to that time, he had been pretty well fearless, but no longer.  He wanted out. 

Your doctor tells you, "Put your house in order; you're going to die."  Then someone says, "Hold it!  You've got fifteen years to go!"  How would you feel?  Elated!  Joyful!  Thrilled beyond words!  Suddenly your life would take on new meaning.  What you thought was important pales in comparison because you were alerted for the knock of the grim reaper, and suddenly the darkness gives way to the dawn of hope.  Fifteen years is a long time.