This morning in my quiet time, I was studying II Kings 19:5-13 and I was hit by the power of the choices we make on a daily basis. Please take a moment to read that passage because it will help you better appreciate what I am trying to state in this Sip from the Well. Historically speaking, Jerusalem is threatened by the Assyrians and Sennacherib. He has threatened the city and tells them to surrender and not trust the lies of their own king, Hezekiah because their God won't rescue them. King Hezekiah receives two messages concerning this predicament: The first is from Isaiah the prophet who says that God will cause Sennacherib to fall back and then he will be killed. So God will deliver. Sennacherib gives another message saying that he is bringing God's judgement and they had better not fight but surrender. Hezekiah is presented with two stark choices: One he can control by bowing down to Sennacherib and paying him tribute. Other countries have done this and survived. But God's plan is to resist and God promises to deliver. Hezekiah does not have the forces nor the ability to resist Assyria. Which of these two would you choose?
Each day, we face choices which are just as obvious. We can compromise with culture and work out some type of balance with that pressure and our faith. However, we will go against what we know God would have for our lives. Or we can be a radical rebel in our culture and live a life of holiness and commitment to Christ, knowing it will cost us friends, position and maybe even our jobs. We think we can control the situation if we just compromise a little bit here and there. Yet, we will never experience the power of God's deliverance if we take matters into our own hands. So if we choose to wait on God's timing, we are left handing the entire controls over to God. That is difficult for many of us. So many who claim to be Christians have taken the path of compromise that their lives look no different than their friends and they experienced limited power of God at work in their lives. So the Church looks quite similar to other organizations rather than a thriving, loving congregation of radical Christ-followers.
There are so many examples of this, but I will go back to Sunday's sermon. Many of you mentioned how it challenged and encouraged you as we looked at facts about marriage. In our culture, the prevalent preparation for marriage is cohabitation (Living together). Couples think they can test to see if they are compatible and to see if they really can attempt marriage with each other. This type of thinking is destroying the fabric of relationships in our country. There is a huge number of children being born out of wedlock without the comfort of having a stable home life. Studies show that cohabitating couples have more divorce, abuse and dissatisfaction in marriage. Google studies on cohabitation and you will be shocked by what has been revealed about this psuedo-marriage. Faced with such evidence, couples are living together MORE frequently now and even couples in the church has chosen this avenue. Rather than follow God's path of waiting until marriage, couples have chosen a compromise with the world. God's path is simple and gives the best opportunity for a loving couple to have a satisfying and life-long marriage, yet it takes more courage, strength and discipline.
This is just one choice we are faced with. Most of our choices are simply, small choices during the day. Will we compromise or obey the Lord? Will we handle it ourselves or allow God to move in a wonderful way? Have the courage to be like Hezekiah and wait on the Lord, saying "No" to the tremendous pressure to compromise. May God give you the strength to be a radical follower of Jesus each day who will avoid compromise and live boldly for Jesus. May this Sip refresh you as you follow Him.
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