It Ain't About You – 1 Kings 20:13

13 Just then a lone prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, "God's word: Have you taken a good look at this mob? Well, look again - I'm turning it over to you this very day. And you'll know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I am God."

– 1 Kings 20:13

It Ain't About You

A lone prophet – a no-name messenger of God – a holy man whose first name was "A" and whose last name was "Lone" approached the king with a word from God Himself.  Mr. Lone (the prophet) is forever established in God's Holy Word, but his name is never revealed.  Not one byline, not a footnote, no asterisk, not even a single commentary line (as far as I've been able to find).

This person, recognized as a man of God, someone who had a very real and personal love-relationship with God, and who was willing to put himself out there and deliver a message to the king, that would give him the  strategy he needed to win a war against a formidable enemy, will forever be known as "A Lone."  Without Mr. Lone's delivered  and convincing message, King Ahab and all of the army of Israel would have surely been defeated.  

The need for recognition is a key tool that the enemy uses to drive a wedge between God's people and to stir up division in the church.  He (the devil) knows that our egos are so fragile that if we don't get a "Thank You" from the pulpit, or a mention in the bulletin, or worse – if someone else gets recognized and we don't (GASP!), then our attention and our energies will be diverted from developing our own love-relationship with God, into gossiping, and bickering, and leaving our church in search for somewhere we can be appreciated for all our hard work.  It sounds petty right?  That's because it is petty!

In this day and age of American Idol, and YouTube sensations, and instant uploads, and Facebook, and Twitter, self promotion and the need for recognition is sweeping the globe.  We marvel at humility like it's a golden nugget that has suddenly been discovered in a field of potatoes – a rare gem amongst the commonplace stories of me, me, me, and a little bit more of me.  

How did we get to such a state?  How did we let the enemy lie to us in such a way that we have created idols out of ourselves, thinking more of our own accomplishments than caring about what God could do with our talents and abilities, if we would just take our eyes and ears off of how great we think we are, and put them back where they belong . . . on how Great our God is?  What a great message we would deliver if everything we did, all of our efforts, all of our accomplishments, were offered up to God as sacrifices of Praise to His Name and to His Glory!  If we all would recognize the One who gave us our abilities in the first place and diverted ALL attention to Him, the enemy would run away with his tail between his legs and not come back!

So think about it . . . pray about it . . . then take a lesson from Mr. A. Lone, and give your best to God and let Him be your fame!  Now THAT would be worthy of some recognition.

Prayer

Father, Thank You for Your Word today.  Thank You for reminding us that You are worthy of all Glory and all recognition.  Forgive us for being so self-serving and for letting our egos get in the way of the great work You want to do through us.  Help us to walk, and talk, and work with each other in true Humility and Grace, seeking only Your Favor and desiring, in all things, to build our love-relationship . . . with You.

Have a Blessed day everyone!

– Richard