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Are You Listening?

One day, King Jehoshaphat King of Judah and Ahab King of Israel joined together to go to war against their enemy. Ahab was not a very godly king and Jehoshaphat, a godly king, lacked discernment in forming such an alliance. Jehoshaphat needed a Word from God before he actually went to war. He sought God’s will. Ahab gathered together 400 prophets, 400 “yes men”, who always told Ahab what he wanted to hear. The prophets told Ahab to go to war and that the victory would be his… just what he wanted to hear. Jehoshaphat sensed something was not quite right and asked if there was anyone else who can give them a word. Ahab called a man named Micaiah. Micaiah was a man who told Ahab the truth but Ahab didn’t want to hear it. Ahab said, “… I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” (2 Chronicles 18:7)

After Micaiah prophesied defeat for Ahab, he told Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil?” (v. 17) Micaiah was slapped in the face and put in prison and feed with the bread and water of affliction. As it turned out, Ahab did not listen and was killed in the battle and Jehoshaphat returned home but learned a valuable lesson.

Sometimes we want to hear what we want to hear and we don’t want to hear what we don’t want to hear. (Profound isn’t it?) We surround ourselves with people who agree with us, even when we are wrong or missing God’s direction and we stay in the pride of our own ways and avoid those who would truly give us God’s truth and direction. If your heart is set on your own ways and not really submitted or surrendered to God’s ways, you will always find someone who will agree with you and you will reject the one who is telling you the truth. Jesus said that if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit (Matt. 15:14)

Is God trying to reach you with a truth you are resistant to? Who is God using to correct or redirect you into not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear? Thank the Lord for those who love us enough to tell us the truth and who really care for us. Thank Him for the Micaiahs in our life!