Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

They told him everything would be fine. A little skirmish. A few arrows. Some drawn swords. No problem. They told him to go to battle with Ramoth-Gilead. They said God was with him. They said Ahab and Israel, with the help of Jehoshaphat and Judah, would win the day. Four hundred men agreed. Four hundred men encouraged. Four hundred men speaking without consulting God. 

It was the way Ahab wanted it. He didn’t want to hear from God. He wanted results skewed in his favor. He wanted his own way. He didn’t want to hear what the true prophet of God had to say. He had purposely surrounded himself with worthless advisors and “prophets” that would tell him only what he wanted to hear. Men who wouldn’t call him on his sin. Men who would condone his impulses and desires. Men who wouldn’t dare impede his waltz down the path of impending doom.  

Not so Jehoshaphat. As much as the marriage alliance with Ahab made him feel compelled to join the battle against Ramoth-Gilead, his allegiance to God made him ask for one important favor. He wanted to know God’s will before they went into battle. Did they have God’s approval? His presence? His favor? Or should they just stay home? 

He wasn’t willing to leave the decision up to 400 imposters, either. He wasn’t looking for silver-tongued yes-men. He didn’t want to hare off on an ill-advised suicide mission. He wanted to hear what God had to say. He wanted to know that God was on his side. He wanted to hear words from a true prophet of God. So he asked Ahab to consult one.

Reluctantly, with much whining and moaning, Ahab called Micaiah, God’s prophet. True to form, the news was not what Ahab wanted to hear. He wasn’t going to win this battle. In fact, he wasn’t even coming home. Disaster was about to befall him. A lying spirit had entered the mouths of his advisors and he chose to listen. Not to the voice of truth spoken through Micaiah, but to the siren song, the pleasant words, the adulterated affirmation of a lie. The result was calamitous. 

No matter how hard he tried to hide, change his appearance, or order his men to fight on his behalf, Ahab couldn’t change the results of his poor choices. While God covered Jehoshaphat with his protection, Ahab chose to remain on his own, to fight his own battles. He thought he could change the outcome in his favor, prove God’s prophet wrong. He actually believed the lies he wanted to hear. Because he did, he was in the wrong place when a man randomly shot an arrow into the melee, striking Ahab between the joints of his armor. 

Knowing he was badly wounded, aware that death was imminent, Ahab sat propped up in his chariot at the edge of the battlefield, writhing in pain, watching the battle, waiting as his life ebbed from his body. For the rest of the day, he sat there, his eyes glued to the battle before him. At sunset, he exhaled his final breath, his life wasted because he chose a comfortable lie over an unpleasant truth. (II Chronicles 18)

 Although there is nothing in the account to indicate such, it has crossed my mind to wonder if Ahab regretted his choice. Did he sit in that chariot, his life slipping away, and wish he’d stayed home? Did he wish, instead of listening to 400 men trained to immediately bless his choices, he’d have listened to the one who didn’t? Did he regret not seeking God before it came to this? Did he wish he hadn’t chosen to learn the hard way? In the final moments of his life, as the truth he rejected became reality, did he wish he’d lived differently? If he had, perhaps then I could admire him. 

As it stands, there is little to admire about Ahab. His laudable qualities are few, if indeed he had any at all. Yet as I read the accounts of his life, I find it impossible to miss how like him all humanity is. We are selfish, arrogant beings desperate to have our own way, hear only the things we want to hear, do only the things we want to do. We want to believe we are right when we choose the path of least resistance, the shortcut, the plan that doesn’t seem to require approval from God. We are highly susceptible to the voice of the liar. It’s the voice we want to hear. It gives us the answer we seek. It says we are right even when we are wrong. It enables us to block out the voice of truth and encourages us to wholly seek our own desires. And we do. 

If you are reclining in your easy chair skim-reading this because you believe it can’t possibly apply to you, look again. Be honest. Re-evaluate. How often do you decide something God calls sin can’t possibly be sin because “everyone else” is doing it? How frequently do you decide His Word doesn’t apply in our day and age? Do you repeatedly allow the voices of the world, the lies of the 400 advisors, to obscure the voice of truth? Do you continually find yourself treading water in the shoals when you could be cruising in the deep? You could be, but you chose to believe the agreeable lies and ignore the objectionable truth. 

We aren’t the first generation to do this. Believe lies instead of truths or seek our own way instead of adhering to God’s perfect plan. It’s been happening since the dawn of time. Eve believed a lie and ate the fruit for which she lusted. Their consequential ejection from the Garden of Eden and introduction to a life of hardship, illness, and pain hardly seems worth that taste of forbidden fruit. How much joy and peace and blessing did Adam and Eve sacrifice for just a moment of their own way? (Genesis 2:15-3:24)

A group of the children of Israel, angry at the lack of amenities in their wilderness experience, begged for some creature comforts until God gave in. They got their wish but paid a steep price. With the first bite of quail, as they began to chew, a severe plague struck. People became ill. People died. Those who lived would testify to the fact that the results of their badgering, complaining, and discontent, were absolutely not worth the reward. (Numbers 11) 

They won’t be for you either. You can enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time. You can choose to believe you are entitled to Heaven and God would never allow a being He loves to spend eternity in Hell. You can hope you are right. You aren’t. You can blindly follow the world as it races to destruction, condoning what God calls sin, arguing to mitigate or change God’s commands, telling you to trust yourself above all things. You can adhere to their philosophy, and hope they are right. They aren’t. You can ignore all the people who come to you in love and ask about your relationship with Jesus. You can tell them it isn’t their business. You can brush aside their concern. You can even pretend to listen and adhere. You can attend church, sing the songs, nod your head and say, “Amen.” You can tell yourself it is enough. It isn’t. (Isaiah 5:20-21; Romans 1:18-23; James 1:22)

The only “enough” there will ever be is the wholehearted following of the true words, commands, and statutes of God. They might be uncomfortable. You might struggle over following them when no one else is doing it. You might not even see the point. The evil one won’t make it any easier. The voice of that liar will come to you and whisper that it is okay to let up, change, ignore those soul safeguards. Don’t be deceived. Don’t scorn God’s words. It didn’t work for Ahab, it won’t work for you. The wages of sin are still eternal death, no matter what the world is trying to tell you. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20; John 8:44; Galatians 6:7; Romans 6:23) 

It is unfortunate that Ahab didn’t have or chose not to adhere to Proverbs 14:12 in his day. It perfectly sums up the answer to the conundrum of choosing palatable lies over unappealing truth. The writer simply pens these words, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but it ends in spiritual, eternal death.” The bottom line? You can use all your human powers of deduction, selection, logic, and reasoning, but unless you are following God’s way, listening only to His voice, you are headed for destruction. It’s unavoidable. (Romans 6:16; Proverbs 30:12)

So seek the Voice of Truth above all other voices. If you desire human advice, choose your advisors with caution. Choose your inner circle, your closest friends with prayerful care. And listen. Listen when you feel the prick of conscience, the subtle leading in a direction you wouldn’t necessarily choose. Listen when your godly advisors steer you down a path paved with Scriptures even when it isn’t what you want to hear. Examine yourself when trusted friends gently, lovingly point out signs of gathering resentment, bubbling rebellion, or necessary restitution in your life. Listen. Adhere. Remember this. As uncomfortable as all these things may be, as much as you don’t want to hear them, don’t want to admit them, don’t want to follow them, the reward will certainly be worth the adherence. Peace in your soul. The smile of God’s approval. The guiding care of His hand. The joy of a Heavenly eternity. There is nothing more valuable than these! (Psalm 119:105, 133; Proverbs 12:26; Galatians 5:16; Romans 12:2)