“Are you able to genuinely say, from your knowledge of God and your relationship with Him, the He is indeed a beautiful Being?” George Mueller, “Streams in the Desert,” 4-15

How well do I know God? They say your perception of God can correlate with your relationship with your dad. If that is the case, then God is busy!

My dad left for work before we got up. After supper, he would go to his shop and work a few hours more. When I was a girl, he hung a circular swing in the center of his shop in the basement. I would swing there for hours. He was working and I was just in his presence.

I like being in God’s presence, too.

When I read the first verse today I wondered, “Why did Jehoshaphat need an alliance with Ahab?”

2 Chronicles 18:1, “But even though Jehoshaphat was very rich and much honored, he made a marriage alliance with Ahab of Israel.” The Message

Why? For his army. We read in 2 Chronicles 13:2, 3,  that Israel had twice as many soldiers as Judah.

“The English word ‘humbled’ (in some versions ‘shamed’) refers to an inner attitude or feeling. But the Hebrew word refers more to public disgrace. Shame or humiliation accompanies the experience of defeat and applies even to those who are not personally responsible for what happened (Psalms 44:9). Trouble resulting from a natural cause or providential act that no one could foresee or prevent could still be said to shame or confuse the one who suffered.” Chronological Study Bible Notes

Those soldiers couldn’t protect Jehoshaphat. He was humbled and shamed by the defeat. In the heat of battle he cried out to God and God protected him.

2 Chronicles 18:31, “Jehoshaphat yelled out, and the chariot commanders realized they had the wrong man – it wasn’t the king of Israel after all. God intervened and they let him go.” The Message

Some are like Ahab. They believe God only preaches doom, doom, doom, (see 2 Chronicles 18:7). They just don’t know God. They haven’t spent time in His Presence.

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