October 17

1 Kings 20 It was my job to block him, and I couldn’t do it. He was first string and I was second string. The second string quarterback was understandably getting perturbed with me. The quarterback was occasionally getting creamed by him. In my defense he was at least 40 lbs. bigger than I, and it was all muscle, not fat. We came in from football practice, and in the shower he scowled, “I beat your . . .” What could I say? He had! But that did not stop the anger. I’m a slow burner. I don’t explode unless I’ve been burning a long time. I burned all night long. I was going to have to do the same thing the next day. The more I thought, the angrier I became. He had some other comment the next day before practice. “Let not him who puts his pads on boast like him who takes it off.” I was boiling now. When it came time, coach was chewing on me again, “Chaffin you’ve got to get under him.” But the lower I got, the lower he went. The physics of that extra 40 lbs. was still working against me. I despaired. If I couldn’t get under him, I’d at least make him hurt. I have always had a hard head. I quit trying to get under him. He was low enough; I went straight for his helmet. Play after play it was my helmet on his helmet as hard as I could hit him. I don’t think I ever properly blocked him, but I did notice that he was no longer penetrating like before. He wasn’t quite on edge like he had been. In the locker room someone asked him a question. He couldn’t remember the answer. They started asking other simple questions. He couldn’t answer them. He had a slight concussion. “Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.” I felt only a tiny bit of shame. Ahab was a dirty rotten sinner, so was Ben Hadad. Ben Hadad’s country was bigger and stronger than Israel. Is God obligated to protect us when we are in rebellion? Was God under any obligation to protect Ahab? Absolutely not! Ben Hadad was not simply controlling Ahab, he was humiliating him. The Lord treated this as an opportunity to show His rebellious king that He is indeed the Lord and there is no other. He intervened on Israel’s behalf and Israel defeated Syria. It was also time for Syria to learn that Yahweh is the only wise God, and there is no other. But Ben Hadad was insolent, and rather than seeing that his loss was due to the intervention of the Almighty, he attributed it to, “Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.” He was impugning the glory of God. God would not permit that. Did Ahab deserve to be protected? Absolutely not! But for defense of His own glory God destroyed Ben Hadad. Ben Hadad should not have boasted like he was taking his armor off. Is God obligated to protect me? Absolutely not! But he will defend his own glory. Let no one who has finished the course boast like one who has finished the course. Like Yogi Berra says, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” We might despair now, but it’s not over yet. When it is over, we will look back and see that God will have glorified Himself. No, I may not understand right now, but I will then. Therefore, I should choose a course of action which will please Him. Getting angry and beating people on the helmet won’t satisfy. But letting God be the judge will because it is all about His glory, not mine. If I make it about my glory, I will make it more than a tiny bit of shame. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john