Learning to Walk Again
Greetings in the Lord!
Today's word comes from 2 Chronicles 32:24-33:25. The passage talks about the reigns of King Hezekiah in his later years; his son Manasseh, who reigned after him, and then his grandson, King Amon, who reigned briefly after Manasseh. While there are many elements to consider in each of the reigns, today I feel led to look at the act of repentance done by both Hezekiah and Manasseh for their pride against God, and the lack of repentance by the grandson, Amon. We can see a simplified cause and effect of God restoring both Hezekiah and Manasseh in their kingship for their humility, while Amon "increased his guilt"and reigned only two short years before being assassinated by his own officials.
But as I was pondering over the significance of their repentance's it dawned on me: Hezekiah was going to die and pleaded with God for more time, so God extended his life by 15 years. Well, Manasseh was 12 years old when he took the throne. If Hezekiah's life would have ended when God was ready to take him home, who would have been king instead of Manasseh? A better question maybe is this: if God knew Manasseh would choose to be so wicked in his early reign, why would He have extended Hezekiah's life by 15 years? Why not 10 or 8? Then Israel would have been spared all the wicked practices Manasseh introduced into Israel and maybe they would not have strayed so far from God in the long (and short) run...but maybe not.
The Lord gives a clue to the answer of these questions in chapter 32, verses 30-31:
"It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook. But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart."
Hmm...so even though Hezekiah repented and had his life restored, he had cultivated an arrogant heart attitude because of his many successes. In fact, this prideful attitude probably corrupted the people of Israel as well, as later on we see that they did not repent of their idolatry even after Manasseh had, and then Amon refused to as well. The root of pride ran deep and was only uprooted with the placement of the boy king Josiah on the throne. He was only 8 years old when he became king after Amon so he would not have learned any of the prideful attitudes of the previous generations.
So what can we glean from this story? Well, firstly, as a corporate word we can understand that God will be and is doing some clean up in the lives of His spiritual leaders this season by humbling leadership and uprooting a pervasive arrogant mentality that was cultivated as a result of their many "successes." I discern this is happening to large ministries as well as small group leaders. The pride has got to go--and the arrogant smugness and cult of personality it fosters in their flock. There may be many people to grow discontent with where the Lord has had them for spiritual guidance this season--don't be alarmed! Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit!! and humble yourself to go where He leads and repent of the pride we have because of our "popular" churches, what we've "accomplished" while serving there, and of all the boasting we do along the way. Boast, boast, and more boasting is what many congregations and spiritual people end up doing when they've had a certain amount of "success" in the Lord or praise from people. It's almost inevitable that people become overly proud of this--thank God for hardships!
Now for the complement word to this one: if you are a spiritual leader that has in some way or another stumbled, fallen or flat out sinned (maybe even a lot) this past season and are struggling with guilt, your faith walk, or being used again by God I want to encourage you to repent sincerely and pray to God--He is in the restoration business!!! God loves a humble and contrite heart and in His timing and in His way He will restore what He has in mind for you. The only one who should worry is the one who "increases his guilt" and doesn't repent of his ways. I'm telling you with a quick action these will be removed from leadership and their congregations scattered to spiritually healthier places.
So let the pruning and uprooting begin! Let the tears of repentance flow to water the good Seed in our heart to grow, to mature and to bear much fruit in Him.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Today's word comes from 2 Chronicles 32:24-33:25. The passage talks about the reigns of King Hezekiah in his later years; his son Manasseh, who reigned after him, and then his grandson, King Amon, who reigned briefly after Manasseh. While there are many elements to consider in each of the reigns, today I feel led to look at the act of repentance done by both Hezekiah and Manasseh for their pride against God, and the lack of repentance by the grandson, Amon. We can see a simplified cause and effect of God restoring both Hezekiah and Manasseh in their kingship for their humility, while Amon "increased his guilt"and reigned only two short years before being assassinated by his own officials.
But as I was pondering over the significance of their repentance's it dawned on me: Hezekiah was going to die and pleaded with God for more time, so God extended his life by 15 years. Well, Manasseh was 12 years old when he took the throne. If Hezekiah's life would have ended when God was ready to take him home, who would have been king instead of Manasseh? A better question maybe is this: if God knew Manasseh would choose to be so wicked in his early reign, why would He have extended Hezekiah's life by 15 years? Why not 10 or 8? Then Israel would have been spared all the wicked practices Manasseh introduced into Israel and maybe they would not have strayed so far from God in the long (and short) run...but maybe not.
The Lord gives a clue to the answer of these questions in chapter 32, verses 30-31:
"It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook. But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart."
Hmm...so even though Hezekiah repented and had his life restored, he had cultivated an arrogant heart attitude because of his many successes. In fact, this prideful attitude probably corrupted the people of Israel as well, as later on we see that they did not repent of their idolatry even after Manasseh had, and then Amon refused to as well. The root of pride ran deep and was only uprooted with the placement of the boy king Josiah on the throne. He was only 8 years old when he became king after Amon so he would not have learned any of the prideful attitudes of the previous generations.
So what can we glean from this story? Well, firstly, as a corporate word we can understand that God will be and is doing some clean up in the lives of His spiritual leaders this season by humbling leadership and uprooting a pervasive arrogant mentality that was cultivated as a result of their many "successes." I discern this is happening to large ministries as well as small group leaders. The pride has got to go--and the arrogant smugness and cult of personality it fosters in their flock. There may be many people to grow discontent with where the Lord has had them for spiritual guidance this season--don't be alarmed! Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit!! and humble yourself to go where He leads and repent of the pride we have because of our "popular" churches, what we've "accomplished" while serving there, and of all the boasting we do along the way. Boast, boast, and more boasting is what many congregations and spiritual people end up doing when they've had a certain amount of "success" in the Lord or praise from people. It's almost inevitable that people become overly proud of this--thank God for hardships!
Now for the complement word to this one: if you are a spiritual leader that has in some way or another stumbled, fallen or flat out sinned (maybe even a lot) this past season and are struggling with guilt, your faith walk, or being used again by God I want to encourage you to repent sincerely and pray to God--He is in the restoration business!!! God loves a humble and contrite heart and in His timing and in His way He will restore what He has in mind for you. The only one who should worry is the one who "increases his guilt" and doesn't repent of his ways. I'm telling you with a quick action these will be removed from leadership and their congregations scattered to spiritually healthier places.
So let the pruning and uprooting begin! Let the tears of repentance flow to water the good Seed in our heart to grow, to mature and to bear much fruit in Him.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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