Doing what is right without needing a new word from the Lord

In 2 Kings 11, there was a leadership vacuum in Judah. King Ahaziah had been killed by Jehu when visiting the northern kingdom of Israel. The queen mother took her opportunity to take power for herself. Athaliah, a daughter of King Ahab, systematically killed all of her family members that she considered a threat. She attempted to wipe out the entire family line of King David, and would have succeeded had Jehosheba not rescued baby Jehoash and hidden him away from her for six years.

This woman, Jehosheba, and her husband and priest Jehoiada, saved this special baby and protected him for six years. This was a dramatic thing to do, at great cost to themselves.

Notice this, however: no-one told them to do this. There was no prophet who said that they needed to save this baby. God did not speak directly to them. They didn’t get a dream or vision that guided their behaviour. They already knew what was required. God had promised a great king to come from the line of David, and that meant that this baby needed to live. They just got on with the job and did what was needed to be done.

I think we need to reflect on this because sometimes we make the service of God a little too mystical. We look for guidance and pray for God to open doors. Some might ask God for a sign before they do something, or expect a special word from God for them personally telling them the right decision to make. Some seek a sense of peace about a decision. While this does exhibit faith in believing that God can do this, it is not a Biblical expectation. God never promises to give each of us personalised instructions on how to live. God expects us to use what we know about Him and His world to make wise decisions about what faces us.

We do need to get to know God and his Word better. He has revealed to us what He is like. He has promised us what the future holds and instructed us on how should be living now. We don’t need a new word from God; we need to know His existing word better.

Like Jehosheba before us, we might face decisions where we know what we should do. We don’t need extra confirmation from God; we just need to get on and do it. We don’t need a new word from God telling us that we should be working on restoring broken relationships. We don’t need a new word from God to take a stand against unethical behaviour in our workplace or to be faithful in our marriages. Much of the time, we have some idea of the best thing to do; we just need to get on and do it.