The Israelites had settled in Egypt from the time of Joseph. As time went on, the Pharaoh changed and so did the leadership. The Israelites were oppressed with forced labour for 430 years. The Lord heard their cry and led them out of Egypt to Canaan with the help of Moses. In Canaan, they were without a king or without a leadership for 40 years. The Lord finally gave Saul as their King. Under him the Israelites prospered but he disobeyed God. He was sent to attack the Amalekites. He was told to destroy all that belonged to them. But brought their King Agag and the best of sheep and cattle back as a sacrifice to the Lord. This made the Lord regret his decision in making Saul the King.
David became his successor. He was powerful and there was peace and harmony in Israel during his reign because even when he gave in to the temptations he still sought help from the Lord. But those who came after him divided Israel into two – Judah and Jerusalem – and brought chaos.
King Uzziah became powerful in Judah, but his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord. He entered the Temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him inside and confronted him saying that it was not right for him to burn incense to the Lord. That was for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense to which he became angry. While he was raging at the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead. He was thrown out of the temple and banned from the temple of the Lord and had leprosy till the day he died.
When King Uzziah died, the whole of Judah and Jerusalem was filled with chaos and once again Judah and Jerusalem were left leaderless. During that time when there was no proper leadership, Isaiah turned to the Lord for help when there was no place to go he went to the Lord. When he saw the vision of the Lord, he cried and realised how unclean and unworthy he was and came to know his true self and that of the one who was seated on the throne. So when the voice of the Lord asked, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?", Isaiah replied by saying, "Here am I, Send me!"
From the above examples, we can see that the Lord created and chose us for a purpose. If we don’t do things which we were or are meant to do, then He too will leave and forsake us. Have we also lived our lives like Saul that would make the Lord regret his decision? It is time to think and take a step back before it is too late. Do we all like king Uzziah do the things which we are not meant to do even though we have been confronted many times? Do we not pay attention to what the Lord wants us to do instead pay more attention to the things which are beyond our duty or responsibility? If so then is it not time to start paying attention and start afresh.
How many of us have actually recently turned to God when we were in distress or trouble? Or do we seek help elsewhere? Let us always turn to the Lord and seek his help. Let us be true in being his disciple. For that we need to nurture our relationship with God. If our relationship with God is based on a solid foundation then nothing will be able to rock it. We will gain the right confidence and courage to be able to spread his word wherever we are. We too can become like Isaiah who knew the Lord very well that he was willing to risk his life not knowing where he was headed to. But that is possible only when you have a good relationship with God. Like how God used Moses and his rod, he knows your talents and strengths and can use you accordingly.
God uses the simplest of things like in the case of David, he used just one of those five stones to kill the Giant which seemed impossible. Let us be willing and obedient and allow Him to work his way through us. When your relationship with God grows, you grow along with your family and further impacts the society that you are in. May the good Lord guide and lead your ways!
(Courtesy: https://ebccdelhi.org/activities/worship-service-write-up/2415-missions-sunday-service-february-16-2020-2-pm.html )
