“But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, ‘Why
is your spirit so sullen?’ ‘Because I spoke to Naboth…and said…Give me your
vineyard…And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ Then Jezebel his wife said to him, ‘I will
give you the vineyard of Naboth.’ So it
was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to
take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” 1 Kings 21
What a disturbing story that seems unlikely that it would
ever repeat itself. King Ahab reigned
over the entire region and most likely had everything he wanted as he and his
wife lived as royalty. One day he
decided that he wanted the neighboring vineyard which was another man’s
inheritance from his family. The king
wanted to plant a vegetable garden, so he approached Naboth, the vineyard owner
with an offer which was immediately turned down. Ahab stormed in the door, sent himself to his
room and refused to eat. He was mad,
sullen and disappointed. Jezebel his
wife entered the room and inquired as to what was wrong. He proceeded to tell her, and she immediately
began feeding his ego, reminding him that he was king and had all authority
over everything. She assured him that
she would take care of everything, and boy did she. She devised a plan to have Naboth wrongly
accused of blasphemy against both the king and God in front of the people. He was taken outside the city and stoned to death. She went back to Ahab with a resolution to
his problem regardless of the circumstances.
Ahab got up, suddenly got his appetite back and took over the vineyard
to plant some lettuce! What a weird story
that we could easily feel has no relativity to our lives. But then I think of the alternative that
might have happened if Ahab had someone in his life that spoke right instead of
wrong into his circumstances. Ahab’s disappointment
would have passed, he would probably have found another parcel or land, and Naboth
would still have been tending to his vineyard.
“Who we listen to is who we are influenced by and who we
are influenced by is who we are placing our trust in.” Trustworthy, Lysa TerKeurst, Video Session 4. What a powerful statement that each of us
should use as a measuring stick when listening to those around us. Dilemmas of all kinds will find every one of
us. There will be times that we feel
entitled to something only for the door to shut. There will be times when someone angers us,
and we need help processing our feelings.
There will times when we are wounded and have feelings of
retaliation. To whom will we turn? To whom we will give power to with their
words when we are vulnerable? ‘Whatever
words have access to our hearts will affect our actions.’ Video Session 4. God has placed people around us to help guide
us in the right responses when faced with issues. When we open our hearts to people who are not
God-centered we open our circumstances to secondary challenges. If you do not have someone around you who
will speak life and truth into your life, pray for God to raise one up for you. Most likely, we all know of someone like this
in our lives. We must have the courage
to reach out, open our hearts and minds and receive their Godly perspective.
Who has access to your heart?
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