The Last Good King

2 Kings 23:25 “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

Struggles…

we all have them. People, situations, lack of things, too much of a good thing…Life.

What do we do? We pray, “God, help me make those that have hurt us see…” We expect victory because we have the Victorious Lord on our side. We have read the end of the book, we win.

Right?

So we continue to battle on…and we get frustrated when things aren’t going our way. Of course we do. We are partly human after all. Ah!

Josiah, grandson of Manasseh, took the throne. But this young man knew the Lord unlike his predecessors. He was told by a prophet that God’s wrath would rain down because the people had turned away from God. So what is a king to do when he knows he will lose anyway? He followed his Lord without looking back, totally abandoned.

Jesus came as a baby. He lived the trials of life as we did... Actually more than we did.

He came to lose!

He would not win this battle or so it seems to those around Him. “For My ways are not your ways.” It looks as though these kings have lost in the bitter end, but have they?

I thought about how many situations in my own life I feel needs a positive outcome. And when these situations aren’t going the way “I” think they should, I see it as total failure. And the truth be told, I actually want vengeance with people that have hurt me…kind of sort of… but then, how many people have I hurt. And for that, I want God’s mercy. Hmm?

The other day, I read about Joseph’s faithfulness to his brothers. Even after all the pain they caused, he continued to pray and forgive. How many of us have people like Joseph's brothers in our life? We want revenge, don’t we? But this is a battle we are to lose. For we will win, in His eyes. (Matt 16:24-25)

And there stands the Last Good King in all His Glory…

And the day will come when we stand with Him…

IN THE FINAL BATTLE...