THAT THEY MAY KNOW MY SERVICE

"Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries" (2Chronicles 12:8)

The people of Judah led by king Rehoboam had sinned against God and so Shishak king of Egypt came up against them.

In verse 5 of 2Chronicles 12, we see that Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah with the Word of God; they had forsaken God and so God left them in the hands of Shishak.

Judah led by king Rehoboam however humbled themselves before God and God granted them deliverance.

Our buttress point is verse 8, as we read in the opening text of this article. God left them to serve Shishak "that they might know" His service.

There are many times we go through hard situations and it seems God is not hearing our cries. If we are sensitive, we would discern that such times might just be "seasons of training".

Judah had to be trained in the SERVICE OF GOD and that could not be done by drinking, eating and dancing; they had to be drilled.

Without drilling, it was possible for them not to learn the difference between the service if God and that of kings in authority. They would remain childish in jumping in and out of iniquity. The learning process was necessary.

No gold comes out pure unless it passes through a furnace. Hebrews 12:7 says "if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

Let us therefore be careful about which mountains we are casting into the sea, for some of them might be there for us to climb to the next vantage point of our lives.

If we continue to cast out every mountain before us, we would remain in the valley until we agree to submit and KNOW GOD'S SERVICE AND THE SERVICE OF THE KINGDOMS OF THE COUNTRIES.

Ikpa Onwuka.