ICS Daily Devotions
Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
As disciples of Christ, we need to be flexible and growth-oriented. There is always temptation to step into a “comfort zone” and to just keep doing the same things over and over again. The Scripture illustrates this on the story of the king Josiah.
Josiah was an anointed king in Judah before the Babylonian captivity. He was one of the excellent God-fearing kings, together with Hezekiah and just few others. He rediscovered the Book of the Law when he was repairing the Temple in Jerusalem. He stood in awe before God, realizing how precious and holy the commandments are. This discovery was considered a miracle from God and launched the Jewish reforms of purification. Josiah called for national repentance and purified the country from idols. All went fine till a certain point when he probably stepped into a comfort zone. All of a sudden he made a foolish mistake. It actually cost him his life and led the whole country into misery. The story is almost too cruel considering all the good that Josiah did before.
It was a time when titans clashed. Babylonia was raising to be a new superpower and threatened the Assyrians. Assyria reacted by sending a dispatch to Egypt and requested help from the Egyptian king Necho II, whose father had formed a treaty years earlier with the Assyrians. Necho II then took his army and headed north to aid the Assyrians in a crucial battle. He needed to pass through the land of Israel. On his way, however, Josiah the king of Judah surprisingly brought out his army to intercept the Egyptians. It was possibly caused by the hatred towards Assyria that had always oppressed Israel during these centuries and Josiah’s senses became blinded. Years before, the prophet Jonah had even resisted God to avoid preaching repentance in Nineveh, Assyria’s capital. Josiah’s battle is recorded in 2 Chronicles:
2 Chronicles 35:20-22: After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.
It was embarrassing that God had to speak through a pagan worshipper to warn Josiah! But the king did not listen and believed in his good cause. After he lost the battle, he himself was mortally wounded. The other problem was that he delayed Necho on his crusade to such an extent that he did not come up north in time to help the Assyrians against the Babylonians. The battle of titans was lost! The angry Necho was coming back south to Egypt, and on the way home, he avenged himself by deposing the new Jewish king and took many people into captivity.
Babylonia, on the other hand, gained more power and replaced Assyria as the superpower in the region. Josiah misread the situation because Babylonians became even worse enemies than Assyrians: they resettled the whole country of Judah in the process of the famous Babylonian captivity. Josiah stepped into a comfort zone after his previous spiritual success and his life ended in tragedy. Let it be a warning for us to continuously seek improvement, new ways to do things, be ready to adjust our methods and adapt to new circumstances.
God has called you to His Kingdom to be His disciple. Learn to listen to God and do not take spiritual things for granted. Make a list of principles or traits you want to see active and functioning in your life. Spend some time in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Start where you are with what you have! God is on your side!
Sermon Series: In Search of a Supportive Minister (Part 5)
