Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 3, No. 45
“Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness. He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber, Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.” (2Chron 20:35-37NIV)
We have very clear accounts in the bible that show us that carrying out investments or projects that will be successful in life is not all about having the resources and people to do so. It is equally about being led or guided by the Spirit of God. Otherwise, apart from the fact that we may end up losing our investments or projects or paying very invaluable prices for them, we may also never enjoy their fruit.
For example, in our opening text, we are told about how Jehoshaphat, who was a godly king, got involved in some project with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was nothing but a wicked man. What was this project about? It was about building some fleet of trading ships that they could both use to enhance their maritime business. And did they succeed in carrying out this project or not? They did.
However, God sent a prophet to tell Jehoshaphat that He was going to destroy this project and made sure he did not profit from it. And that was exactly what happened. The ships never left their shores, for they all got damaged right where they were. How this happened no one can tell. But it did happen, and Jehoshaphat lost everything he had invested in the project.
But why? Was it because God did not want Jehoshaphat to get better in his maritime business and increase in wealth that He allowed his project to fail? No! Rather, it was because he did that project with the wrong person; he did the project with someone that was operating under certain evil influences that were bound to make him fail. And if God had not predicted what was going to happen by the mouth of His prophet, Jehoshaphat and His people may never have known what was responsible for the failure of that project and the loss of their investment.
What is the lesson, then? It is that God is not just concerned about our lives but also about our relationships. So, it is not enough for our lives to be right before Him; it is also important that the lives of those we get into close relationships with are right before Him. Otherwise, they may continually be the reason our ships of progress or advancement will never set sail, not to talk of bring us great rewards.
Is this, then, to say that we, as children of God, must not associate with those who are not children of God at all. No! In fact, the bible tells us that it is impossible for us not to associate with those of this world at all (1Cor 5:9-10). As long as we are in this world, we will always have one thing or the other to do with those of the world, who do not know God. So, we cannot totally excuse them from our lives. By the way, this is not just about those who do not know God but also about those who claim to know God but who are still living in wickedness, openly or secretly.
At any rate, as long as we are in this world, there are things we cannot get done without those who do not know God and even those who claim to know Him but are living contrary to His will. But then, there are things we cannot and must not do with them, if we do not want to fail miserably or be polluted. Some of these things are obvious because we are warned about them in Scriptures. For instance, we already know from Scriptures that anything we will do with an unbeliever or even a so-called Christian that will make us sin against God or become irresponsible in our lives must be totally avoided.
However, there are certain things that may seem totally harmless to do with unbelievers or erring Christians. For example, building a fleet of trading ships with King Ahaziah seemed like a totally harmless thing for Jehoshaphat. But it ended up being a disaster. In like manner, doing certain things that seem harmless with some people may end up putting us in trouble because of their sins or certain evil influences at work in their lives. How, then, do we avoid that? It is by developing a culture of always committing everything, little or great, we want to do into the hands of God. That way, we can trust Him to always guide us into what is best for us and away from those things that will ruin us, even if they have an appearance of being the very best for us.
So, learn to always commit everything you want to do to God, instead of making your decisions solely on the basis of what you see or hear or your understanding of things. This will definitely keep you from facing problems that are never meant for you.
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