In the Bible there are many apparent ironies of faith, as in life there are many staggering ironies of existence. I listened to the fascinating story of a preacher who had parked his car in front of his hilltop house and stepped out to pick something quickly from the house.
Once upon a time, a powerful king sent out his elite troops to arrest a preacher who had been reported as picking up his crucial intelligence each time he had planned an attack against that preacher’s people. Very early one morning (which is usually when security agencies choose to conduct their raids) the preacher woke up to find armoured personnel carriers all around his vicinity: a nation’s arsenal had come out against one holy man; chariots, horses, and armed soldiers against one unarmed civilian (2 Kings 6:8-24)!
Sometimes we become casualties along the path of life not for what we did wrong but for whom we took along. It happened to Abram who travelled hundreds of miles into the centre of his Promise yet was blinded to where he had got, because he had in his company someone whose name meant “veil” or “covering.” The day he broke from that fond association, God said to him, “Lift up NOW thine eyes … For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it” (Genesis 13:14-15). Wrong connections may not always kill; sometimes they drag and delay covenants.
When God is your enemy, it is pointless to fight, because you will never win. In such conflicts, the mighty God could hire such ordinary fighters as frogs; such little fellows as locusts and lice, or fiercer regiments as hailstones and heathenish brutish Babylonians. His army could be deceptively fragile as flies and little as lice, yet, even with the backing of super-power Egypt, you will never win.
1. Unanswered Situations
We are called to the watchtower, to avert danger from our land and our lives. Sometimes, sadly, terrible things still happen around us, causing intercessors sometimes to blame themselves for the misfortune, as though it might never have been if they had prayed more ‘properly’ or prayed ‘enough.’ There are certain swords that the watchman might see coming, of which he can raise an alarm, to which the people might or might not respond (Ezekiel 33:7-9).
Sages from the ages have often told that the look of a book does not always convey its accurate contents. A once-fooled wise man once warned wailfully that beauty was “vain” if in content it lacked the fear of the Lord; that, in the end, the good heart, more than the good face, earned true praise (Proverbs 31:30). Pretty packages sometimes come with a pomp that belies their content of woes. Hasty eyes often miss the codes of caution concealed on the charming face. That resembles the old story I wish to tell today about Herodias, the bloody Queen of Galilee.
There are multiple Biblical approaches to peacemaking, and peace is qualified. Sometimes, people have worsened the relational friction by attempting to impose on others their own conception of peace or peacemaking. Peace does not mean the naïve ‘Christly’ posture of forcing friendship with a manifest enemy, or lowering one’s guards in their presence as a fond show of ‘Christian’ trust renewed. Godliness is not stupidity. The Bible says to “put on THE WHOLE armour of God,” but tells us nowhere to put it off at any time because we feel safe (Ephesians 6:11).
I was at a church service a few days ago to be with a beloved preacher visiting town. During the service, a young woman told her touching story of a narrow rescue from the edge of an ignominious grave. She had felt so frustrated with life that she was going to kill herself. She considered several suicide options and settled for what she thought was the least painful exit out of her regretted world. She was ready with the potent poison for her dispatch that evening, then she heard music from the church. She pondered that she could, at least, go and confess to God before she took the fatal step, so she headed for the church.
