Journey to ResolveResolution 7: Follow God through Highs and Lows

 

A mountaintop high.
Indescribable.
The view.
The air.
The freedom.
Above it all.

Breathe in…

Exhale…

 

Now step back down for a moment.

Let’s consider the mountain top high of a despicable king who somehow decided to obey God. In our walk through every 20:24 and 20:25 verse in the Bible, we find ourselves in the middle of a 3-part look at our responsibility to God as we consider kings and kingdoms in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Part 1 was the prior post: I Will Stand for God’s Government. Next time, we will Let God Win Our Battles. Today, we resolve to Follow God through Highs and Lows.

Our story is found in 1 Kings 20. At this point in history, Israel has been a divided nation consisting of a northern kingdom called Israel, and a southern kingdom called Judah. Jerusalem was the capitol city of Judah, and Samara was the capitol city of Israel where King Ahab reigned as its seventh king. He was ungodly – not a role model in any way for the kingdom – and he certainly didn’t follow God. But somehow, when Samaria and Ahab were being attacked, Ahab did follow the instructions delivered to him by the prophet Elijah.

It feels odd to draw lessons from the story of an ungodly king. We don’t want to be like him or follow his example. But we do find a couple important points in this story related to Resolution #7: I will follow God through highs and lows.

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Let’s set the scene. King Ben-Hadad of Aram demanded that King Ahab give him all the silver and gold and the best wives and children of Israel. That’s a tall order, but, given the fact that Ben-Hadad gathered 32 kings and their battalions to besiege Israel’s capitol city of Samara, Ahab conceded. Not long after, Ben-Hadad requested more. He said they will take everything of value in the homes of Israel’s officials, including the palace, the home of Ahab. Perhaps this came as no surprise, for Ahab himself relayed to his enemy, “I and all I have are yours” (1 kings 20:4). But Ahab refused this second demand and that same day Ben-Hadad prepared his men to attack (1 Kings20:12).

Fortunately for King Ahab, the Prophet Elijah stepped in and delivered a message to him from God.

“This is what the Lord says:
‘Do you see this vast army?
I will give it into your hand today,
and then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

“But who will do this?” asked Ahab.

The prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The junior officers under the provincial commanders will do it.’”

“And who will start the battle?” he asked.

The prophet answered, “You will.”

 
1 Kings 20:13b-14

 

And King Ahab and 232 junior officers did just that, along with “the rest of the Israelites 7,000 in all” (1 Kings 20:15-21). The junior officers attacked when their enemies were drunk. Drunk and confident. All 232 of them began to defeat the Arameans who fled while King Ben-Hadad escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen. It was a high point for Israel.

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The rest of this story illustrates two lessons about following God through highs and lows…

1.      When we follow God, some may plot against us – the Lows

Ahab, with God’s help, won the battle, but the war didn’t end there. Ben-Hadad would attack again after the winter (1 Kings20:22-25). He and his nation suffered an embarrassing defeat, so he prepared to return with a vengeance.

Haven’t we seen situations like this in our own lives or in the lives of people we’ve heard about? When we accomplish things for God, or even simply commit to following Him or following through with His work, sometimes people step in or talk behind our backs. They may disrupt and even prevent our follow-through.

There’s another way to think about those who plot against us or situations that seem to block us. Within the broader frame of spiritual battle, Satan and his army plot and work against us (1 Peter 5:8-11, 2 Corinthians 11:13–15). In my continuous struggle to honor God and allow Him to use me, the devilish plans to pull me away from Him are very plain to see. Conflicts. Distractions. Fatigue. It’s all there and it’s rooted in real life spiritual battle.

 

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Conflicts. Distractions. Fatigue.
This is often rooted
in real life spiritual battle.

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I lead a Bible study at work and Satan's army works subtley against it. At times, there is contention for the conference room I booked and occasionally I do cancel. I didn't handle this well early on, but God has kept us meeting nearly every week since February 2010. To date, that’s over 15 years. I now do my best to be respectful of critical work meetings and I’ve sometimes given up the room so we’re not perceived as antagonists toward the work of my employer. But I’ve also negotiated and traded or sought other rooms which still allowed us to meet and, frankly, without real issue. Satan and his earthly army are at work against us and God’s gospel. But with God’s help, we can carry on, regardless.

The lows are not fun, but they are part of a life that honors God. Honestly, lows are a part of every life, but those who follow God have guarantees of peace, joy, and deliverance.

2.     When we follow God, He promises victory – the Highs

Ben-Hadad’s officials determined that Israel’s “gods are gods of the hills,” so they set up for battle on the plains (1 Kings20:23). But Ben-Hadad failed to recognize that God was responsible for their defeat. There were kings in other kingdoms that recognized and honored God even though He was not their god (Genesis 41:39-43, Daniel 3:16-30, Daniel 6:13-28), but Ben-Hadad didn’t notice Almighty God at work when the junior officers overpowered his vast and mighty army. This was a miracle and God was about to do it again.

As trees, flowers, and lush greenery adorned the area, Ben-Hadad’s army came on scene as a superbloom, covering the countryside. It was vast with as many horses and chariots as it had before their defeat in the Fall (1 Kings 20:23-26). By comparison, the Israelite army was like “two small flocks of goats” when they camped against them on the plain (1 Kings 20:27).

This could’ve been a low time for Israel, but their God was not only a “god of the hills,” He was also a “god of the valleys.” More definitively, God is the God of all. He owns “every animal of the forest” and “the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10), and “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” (Psalm 147:4). So, the highs will come for those who earnestly follow Him.

 

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The highs will come
for those who
earnestly follow God.

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In just one day, the small army of Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean soldiers, and God followed that up by collapsing a wall onto 27,000 more. Ben-Hadad fled and his officials advised him to beg for mercy (1 Kings20:27-31).

My dear readers, God will always win and in the grand scheme of things, He has already won through the substitutionary death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Thanks to the blood of Jesus, we are guaranteed a victorious and everlasting life through faith.

 

Hills and valleys: moments of success and difficulty. When we go through life, we experience spiritual highs and lows. Following God is not always sunshine and roses, but God does promise victory. Are we burdened with spiritual lows right now? For the Israelites, there was swift victory, but there was also waiting (7 days camped across from the Arameans). What are we doing in the waiting? May we continue to follow God through the waiting and low times.

I close with a song by Jamie McDonald called Desperate. We can be confident in God’s promises even in desperate circumstances. God is the God of victory.

Listen to: Desperate

 

8 more resolutions to come...

The resolutions and Bible books in this series:

I will…

1.     Worship God Alone (Exodus 20:24)

2.     Be More Holy (Leviticus 20:24)

3.     Aim High (Numbers 20:24)

4.     Trust in God’s Strength (Judges 20:25)

5.     Nurture Quality Friendships (1 Samuel 20:25)

6.     Stand for God’s Government (2 Samuel 20:25)

7.     Follow God through Highs and Lows (1 Kings 20:25)

8.     Let God Win My Battles (2 Chronicles 20:25)

9.     Rise Above the Naysayers (Job 20:25)

10. Trust God’s Ways (Proverbs 20:25)

11. Allow God to Correct Me (Ezekiel 20:25)

12. Serve Others Without the Glory (Matthew 20:25)

13. Rely On the Wisdom of God (Luke 20:25)

14. Trust the Words of My Savior (John 20:25)

15. Complete the Work God Has for Me (Acts 20:25)

If you want to dialog more about highs and lows, feel free to leave a comment or email me at authordlv@att.net. As I wrote above, the highs will come for those who earnestly follow God.

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