I am in an experiment to show (myself primarily) that a person can put God first, seek first his kingdom, and spend time with God daily. The experiment seeks to show that if a person does put God first then not only will a crazy job and life not fall apart- it will thrive.
Bible Passage:
There is a story in the Old Testament of the Bible in 1st Kings Chapter 20 that I love in which the Syrians are coming against the people of Israel. Ahab is King of Israel. He is not a king who follows God but God, in his care for Israel, still sends a prophet who tells Ahab they will defeat Syria. Ahab did not seek God's help- but God still made this promise. The Israelites did defeat Syria in battle and the finale of the story is exciting: "Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside. Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left."(1 Kings 20:1-20 NKJV)
This story of God's defense of his people has inspired me for years and it speaks so loudly to me the simple truth that God wants us to know he is not just a God of one situation. He is not strong in only one part of life. God does not become uninvolved in a certain type of circumstance. God is active, powerful, involved- and it does not honor God for us to say or to think God cannot or will-not help in a certain situation.
Think of that. God gave us this story to perfectly illustrate the fact that we should rely on him for all situations in life. We should involve him in all situations in life. And we should trust him in every part of our life. In fact it displeases God, as we saw in the story, when people think he is not all-powerful.
We also see a test of God in this story. The Syrians didn't know it but they tested God. In their case the God test was negative- they believed less about God than was true. They believed Israel could not rely on God in new areas (the Plains).
What do you believe about God? Is God confined to a prayer before you fall to sleep? Is God confined to rituals? Do you only get involved with God at church? What if you did a test? Lets say God right now is someone you admire or love but you don't engage him much in life. Why not ask God to get involved in something you are doing?
Let's GO God!
Scriptures are in the New King James Version of the Bible (NKJV). Scripture provided by BibleGateway.com. NKJV is Copyrighted by Thomas Nelson
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