Elijah Returns

2 Kings 1:1-4 
1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah went. 

After a long and evil reign, Ahab has died and his son has taken his place. Ahaziah follows in his father's footsteps in every way, especially in his total disregard of the true God. When he takes a misstep and falls through some lattice work, his life is in danger and he calls out to the god he trusts - Baal-zebub. Just like his father he seeks the counsel of those who serve this false god. But, just because Ahaziah doesn't love God doesn't mean God isn't watching him. God sends his messenger, Elijah back onto the scene to announce God's judgment; Ahaziah will indeed die as a result of this fall. God has spoken and the judgment is sure.

Of interest for me today is what Ahaziah asks of his "god". He doesn't ask for healing; he only asks for information. "Will I die?" Perhaps Baal-zebub wasn't in the healing business. So Ahaziah knew better than to even ask for Baal-zebub's help.

What do you ask God for? Are you simply seeking information from Him, or do you ask for more? We most definitely have a God who is powerful enough to heal, rescue, provide and save. And yet I think that sometime we hold back, doubtful that God will actually move on our behalf. That's because He will not give us that with is not good for us and we sometimes ask for things that are not in our best interests. But we should aways ask, even if the request is ridiculous! Every conversation with God is time well spent. I recently dicussed with God that it would be helpful to me if my new grandchild was born on a specific date. He heard that plea and indeed she was born that day! It seemed like a crazy request when I was making it, but since God was the only one who had any control over that, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask! What I didn't go to Him for was simply information. That wasn't going to help me out! Since God is all about the relationship, those conversations about that grandchild were precious to us both. He's not the big computer in the sky, waiting to dole out information. No, He is Living and Active and ready walk with us every single day.

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