The King and the Slave

Can't hardly believe 2018 has come to an end. Some celebrate achievements that took place this year, and some grieve the circumstances that they are in right now. Many will make a resolution of eating better and working out, while some will not even try, because they failed every other year.

This week I sat at our kitchen table and was overcome with the fact that life is kind of passing me by. I stay home and raise my kids, and watch their every move, but they still seem to grow a foot every night. Arrow was helping me clean inside cabinets this morning and Raylea read her two younger siblings a story on her bed last night. Jack prayed as he went to sleep, "I really love you, God. I really love you, Jesus." 

My all time favorite song is "Through it all." We've been singing it a lot this week and the line "if I never had a problem, I wouldn't know God could solve them, wouldn't know what faith in His Word could do," has brought so much peace to my soul.

I look in every direction and see hurting people and down right bad situations. Stuff you couldn't even make up. I have been thinking a lot today about my priorities and what matters in life. 

I am making some changes later today and I'm really excited about them. Cutting out some distractions. Not really something I meant to do on New Years, but it just worked out that way.

This morning I read in Jeremiah a story I hadn't personally read before. It's found in chapter 38 if you have time to read it later.

Princes accused Jeremiah and demanded his death for speaking Truth. The king allowed him to be thrown into a miry dungeon, where there was no water, just mire. It said he sunk into it.

I don't know if it was an hour later or the next day, but the very next verse, verse 7 to be exact, says that one of the king's slaves, an Ethiopian named Ebed-melech, heard what the king had allowed to happen to Jeremiah. He went to the king and told him it was evil! The king commanded the slave to take thirty men with him and get Jeremiah out of the dungeon! So, he did.

I want you to really think about this. This is not a nice story you just heard me tell, but this happened to real people, not too terribly long ago, actually, on the same planet you live on right now.

Now, think about that Ethiopian man. Ebed-melech. He was used greatly by God to stand up to a king and put his own life on the line. He didn't beat around the bush either. He called it evil what had been done to that prophet. That man of God. Jeremiah. He did not rally a bunch of the other slaves to be standing behind him when he approached the king. He didn't even make a big long drawn out statement. You can read exactly what he said in one verse, verse 9. 

Think about the courage it took for that slave to stand up to someone who was his boss. His authority. He challenged the man who could have him killed in an instant. 

CHURCH! CHRISTIANS! GOD'S BRIDE!

When is the last time you stood up for what was right? When is the last time you cared more about God's work being done and His will being completed, rather than saving your own tail. Seriously. Think about it. 

It's not popular to stand up for what's right. It's not popular at all to say someone's deeds are evil, especially if you are the slave doing the talking. But, God doesn't look at the crown on one's head. So, with that being said, I want to talk about the king. 

King Zedekiah. He obviously had some power. He was a king.

He probably had a nice bed and a My Pillow covered with a silk pillowcase. 

He had the title of king and took much pride in it.

He had all the Facebook followers and a great name for himself. 

He had people working under him and didn't have to do the work, but got all the glory.

He probably was being fed grapes and had a giant leaf waved towards him to keep him refreshed.

He had new wheels on his carriage and his horses were fed the best grains.

He was probably sitting their swallowing one of those chilled grapes, as the door opened and was approached by his own slave.

What I love about this story, is that God used the king's very own slave to challenge him! He didn't use an enemy or a best friend. He used someone who was much lower than him and who had no authority over him. Yet, God had favor on Jeremiah and used Ebed-melech to rescue him by standing in the gap that day. 

I wander what would have happened if that slave would have been down and depressed on himself. What if he was at home sulking about how bad stuff was and how there was no way to change the situation. What if he would have just laid out some clean clothes to wear to Jeremiah's funeral. What if he just stayed on his phone, scrolling through social media, looking at everyone's "perfect/happy" lives and thought, I have it so bad. What do I have to live for anyways? What if he would have stayed home and let anger rise up towards the princes and the king and he started texting all his fellow slaves and gossiping about how sinful they were for doing that to Jeremiah. What if he would have just said, "God will take care of it. I will just sit here and pray about it I guess.."

Sometimes we have to put legs on that faith and those prayers. Example. I have prayed for God to remove any relationships, hobbies, and distractions from my life that won't draw me closer to Him. I had no idea what would happen when I prayed that prayer! I had to trust God to bring godly, God-fearing friends in my life who aren't afraid to stand up for me, because Lord knows I have felt like Jeremiah in the past, and needed friends who would sharpen my iron, in other words, make me a stronger Christian, even if their advice wasn't what I wanted to hear. I NEED those people in my life and God has granted me with those God-ties. And I trust Him to bring people in and out of my life as He sees fit.

One distraction I'm getting rid of for the next month or so, is my phone. We are going to Walmart later to get me a tracfone and I plan on spending the next several weeks earnestly seeking God and asking Him to reveal and remove any sin from my life and I plan on a revival taking place in my heart. 

I plan on having meetings with God instead of grabbing my phone every hour or two.

So, I know this post wasn't as well put together as usual, but I just wrote what was on my heart, as it came to me. Maybe instead of starting something this year, you need to stop doing something. Ask God to reveal it. He will.

Be like that slave. Be courageous and stand up for men and women of God and stand up for TRUTH.

We Christians are on the same team, we often forget. So, let's start acting/praying like it.

You can be the king/prince and be evil and against God's people/work.

Or, you can be Jeremiah or Ebed-melech. Faithful and courageous.

I appreciate any person who took time to read this, but just know, I don't do this for any other reason than to hope SOMEBODY out there draws closer to God. Even if you read this in 50 years and I'm dead... I just want you to lean on the Lord, whoever you may be.

Have a GOD filled 2019.

Hannah Jo