2 Kings 1:3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?
Today's post is a follow up on yesterday's. You can find that here, although more importantly would be to read the original story here. Oh, and by the way, here is Seth's take on the story too.
The verse I added above, in 2 Kings 1, was the result of a king that fell down and got hurt. So, what was the king's reaction? He went to enquire of Baalzebub whether or not he was going to make it through the sickness. Elijah comes to meet the messengers that King Ahaziah sent, and he basically says to them, "You go up to find your help from other places, because you do not have a God."
What does Elijah and Ahaziah have to do with this little girl that died? Probably nothing, but I would like to bring to light an issue that I believe we many times neglect. The parents of this girl were trusting God for the healing of their daughter. God does still heal. He has not stopped being the Great Physician. Ahaziah failed to look to God for his problems, and God was quite displeased. This family believed they were faithfully looking to God, and yet their daughter died. What do we do?!
Well, let me first give you a test, I would probably fail this test, but here goes: You and your child are riding your bikes down the street. The kid hits a bump, and falls into traffic and is hit by a car. You get up to him and see that he is bleeding and unconscious. What is your first reaction?
Call 911?
Call out to God?
Ahaziah called 911. This family called out to God.
Now, lest any of you think I am trying to defend this family's actions, I am not. I take my children to the doctors (well, usually Sarah does). However, if my first response to sickness is, alright we better go get them checked out, instead of asking for God's mercy, then my outlook is skewed. God surely did give man the understanding and knowledge of the human body and of medicine. If we are to think that man came up with medical knowledge on by himself, then we fail to really understand man's utter dependence on God. It may be God had already answered that family's prayer years earlier when he let the doctors discover the cure for that little girl's problem.
In summary: We need to look to God for our help, and not to ourselves. It would be great if we were in so close communion with God at all times that of course we would seek God first. However, God has already provided so much in His love, and we should be aware of it.
Just a thought...
3 comments:
I think my honest answer is that I would be in fervent prayer as I ran to the phone to call 911.
I'm with Mr. Young!
we were in the hospital when Anna choked, she was immediately in the hands of the best people equipped to handle the situation - from training, with equipment, with experience. I know from Lam. 3 that it is only God's mercy and great faithfulness that has given me today or that could've given Anna another day. To place her into the best possible care was the best thing to do but it needed to be done with reliance completely on the One that determines the outcome of the situation. I know from personal testimony of each of you that you have had very serious moments - we know how our heart cries out to God in situations like this. 2 twins - same heart condition - one prays and then recieves the recommended course of action (surgery) - the other prays and flushes his medicine down the toilet and refuses that surgery...My dad is still alive, my uncle is not. I praise the Lord for the doctors that were used of God to help my daughter and my father - God gets the glory, the doctors - they have my thanks...and a hefty paycheck :)
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