By Tom Wiles | For The Times-Post
Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren’t sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.” — 2 Kings 6:24-7:20
“Your car’s ready,” he said.
My mind began to race to an estimate of how much the repair was going to be.
Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
Maybe, the “fix” was a short-term solution and the big repair was inevitable later.
Preoccupied in thought, I failed to ask any questions before we ended the call.
As I walked in the next day, he said, “Good news!” Whenever your doctor, dentist or mechanic greets you with “good news,” it’s celebration time!
The Israelites were in trouble. Surrounded by the enemy, their capital city was slowly being starved to death and their king could do nothing about it.
Four lepers decided their only hope of survival was surrender.
They took off for the enemy camp and found it abandoned.
The Lord had already intervened, but the people in the city didn’t know.
They were free, but remained imprisoned. Even though they were outcasts, the lepers knew this good news still had to be shared.
At Jesus’ birth, the angel declared, “I bring good news that will bring great joy to all the people. The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”
Physical salvation is one thing, but spiritual salvation is something completely different.
If we have embraced the Good News about Jesus, if we are experiencing the wonder of being forgiven, if we are living in the strength he provides, how can we keep this Good News to ourselves?
Serious about sin
“You were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I said against this city and its people — that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the Lord.” — 2 Kings 22:3-23:30
I have a few friends who are true garden aficionados.
I’m talking raised beds, carefully laid walkways between, rain barrel water supply, meticulous plant selection based on the amount of sun they need and…and…and… All of them are a little different except for one thing.
They hate weeds.
They pull them ruthlessly and relentlessly.
It’s an all-out battle that they refuse to lose.
The delicious and fresh vegetables produced is more than worth all the hassle.
King Josiah was a different breed of king from all the others before him.
Not my words, the Bible’s words.
The narrator tells us no king before him or after him turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength like King Josiah — not even King David, the man after God’s own heart!
He literally went from one end of the country to the other ridding the land and the people of all evidences of idolatry. He was absolutely ruthless about it. Literally, no stone was left unturned.
How serious are we about sin?
We live in a world that the Bible says calls good evil and evil good.
Who influences us more, the word of God or the word of the world?
We are choosing constantly as we go through our days as to where we are going to turn for truth.
Biblical truth leads to freedom from sin.
Worldly truth leads to slavery to sin.
With our surrender, God’s Spirit will show us all the sin weeds in our lives and then provide us with the desire and the power to pull them.
All hope was gone
The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until all hope was gone. — Acts 27:1-20
The fishing guide assured us the waves will calm in time.
The wind would be somewhat strong until it warmed up a little.
To this day, I have no idea whether or not that is typically true information.
That day, however, the wind kept coming and the waves kept rolling.
Unfortunately, my motion sickness kicked into full gear to join the waves.
There was no hope of me reeling in one more fish.
The only thing I could do was pray for the end to come.
Paul had told the crew and the soldiers to keep the ship docked for the winter.
Only trouble awaited them if they sailed on.
They ignored his warning. They were the professional sailors, not him.
In the end, they lost everything except their lives.
The local insurance branch wasn’t available to take their claim.
This storm resulted in a complete and catastrophic loss.
They did live, however, to tell about a God who gives hope when all hope is gone.
What do you do when you come to the end of your rope, when you’ve exhausted every possible resource, including yourself?
No solutions. No breakthroughs. No victory.
The only reality in view is a protracted struggle with no end in sight.
It’s that moment, when we have no fight left in us, where we are best positioned to hear God’s voice.
We can enter into the conversation or drown in bitterness, addiction, darkness or rage.
Tom Wiles is senior minister of Fall Creek Christian Church in Pendleton. He can be reached at 765-778-3166.