the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 2 of 5
1 Kings 22:41-53
Jehoshaphat’s reign is recounted in greater detail in the second book of Chronicles. Here we will end, however, with a very instructive incident. Jehoshaphat had made ready a fleet to go to Ophir for gold. But God’s hand stops him; his ships are destroyed. Is he going to persist? On the contrary, he submits. The king of Israel is ready to offer the help of his sailors, but this time he knows how to say "No"!
Have we not all had the experience of making great plans which have been brought to nothing in a single stroke by unexpected circumstances? Thus it was with Job who had to cry out, "My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart" (Job 17:11). To put a stop to these plans, God makes use of various means: bad weather, illness, lack of money, failure in examinations . . .! And that is always distressing. But instead of getting upset, or insisting in doing all we intended in spite of everything, let us find out whether our plans really had the Lord’s approval. A broken spirit has more value in His eyes than broken ships.
The last paragraph brings us back to the court of Israel. There we see the new king Ahaziah serving Baal and bowing down before him. Such is the sad final note of the first book of Kings.
