DON'T LOOSE YOUR AUTHORITY!

"But Jehoshaphat said, 'Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?' So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, 'Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.' And Jehoshaphat said, 'The word of the Lord is with him.' So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him." 2King.3:11-12.

  
  The destiny of any nation is not so much in the hands of their political leaders as much as it is in the hand of God. He is the one who rules in the affairs of man, and control time and season. He enthrone kings and dethrone them alike. But inasmuch as God will not come down physically to do anything, He has His representatives or delegated authorities by which He carry out His mission at any time.

   Now, who are the authorities of God on earth, and what is their seal of authority? This is the one million dollar question the world is missing today, and are punished by the consequence.

   The scenario in the above text unveiled the significance and indispensability of God's presence in the life of a man, and His important to our entire life. No wonder Apostle Paul said, all that are gain to me is counted as dung to win Christ. Nothing is too much to loose in order to retain His presence, neither is the whole universe worth loosing the presence of God.

   Anyone that lost the presence of God has lost all: his life, dignity, power or authority and relevance. He is lifeless and empty, and does not worth existing anymore except if he make effort to recover it.

   The problem facing our world is due to our attitude or reaction toward God and His word. God wires the universe in such a way that everything should flow right from His presence. He does not expect man to exercise authority at will or discharge duties without His prior knowledge. He want to be actively involve, not because He has any personal benefit to derive, rather out of His share kindness-to ease man of undue stress, complication and confusion. Because He knows the purpose for everything He has made and have the details of the whole universe in His palms. He does not want our works to be subjected to errors or flaw. He know the way through the wilderness of life. In Him was all made, and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John.1:1-4).

   No one knows better about a product like the manufacturer or producer; so it would be a display of insanity if you take a product else where apart from the manufacturer or satisfied personnel in that field when it admit faults.

   The three kings in the golden text used for this piece left for battle without seeking the counsel of the Lord on their way to go in order to capture their enemies, the needed strategy to adopt, and the kind of preparation they supposed to make. Even the Bible did make record of them observing the usual rite the kings in Israel customarily undertake before going for battle. They have forgotten God, and have removed the old landmark. They have taken for granted and taboo those sacred observation inherited from their fathers which has its root from the Lord, and are walking in their own knowledge, together with the people of the land. They looked down on the ability of their enemies by virtue of their own preparation, but the outcome of their self-reliant effort was quite frustrating and unfortunate. They haven't gotten to the camp of their enemies when they were suing for death, because of the toughness of the journey, as they merry-go-round around a spot a whole week until they have almost exhausted all the strength in them for the battle.

   Nevertheless, while the rest of the kings were reading another meaning for their misfortune and blame the unfriendly situation on God, Jehoshaphat raised a suggestion that serve a great lesson for anyone at any age, in any generation to come out of any dilemma or confusing state: "Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?" This my personal interpretation of that frame: "Even though we failed to put God at the fore-front by committing the way to His able and reliable hand at the outset, yet, He remains a compassionate God and willing at the peak of our incoherent situation to lend a helping hand.

   Why would we just die here and jeopardize our dearly beloved nations and kingdoms. After all He does not despise anyone that come to Him, no matter what! And if at all we have lost our authorities to stand before Him because of our uncared attitude, we can still find someone who guards his jealously to stand in the gap for us before the situation gets absolutely out of hand." That is what I perceive Jehoshaphat was trying to say with that statement. I hope to continue later...keep enjoying God's grace...God bless you.