June 8

2 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 21

The heading of today's reading says, "God works so hard to get His people's attention!" There is certainly a memorable example of that found in 2 Chronicles 21. Jehoram, king of Judah received a mysterious letter from Elijah... after Elijah had already been taken to be with God! Elijah rebukes the king for leading his people astray and for murdering his own brothers. Because of his sin, he will suffer a devastating illness. I think that's a pretty effective way of getting someone's attention!

Can you think of a time when you felt God trying to get your attention?

After my first year of college, I got my first full time job. I felt God leading me to give a percentage of my income to my church. This was the first time I was earning a steady paycheck and I knew it was the right thing to give God His portion. After the summer was over, I no longer had that job. Then I started working part-time at my college's records office, but it was a fraction of what I was making before. I stopped giving to my church. I thought, "God will understand that I don't have as much money. I need to keep my entire paycheck." A few weeks into the semester I was called into the financial aid office. They had reevaluated my financial aid package and decided I was getting too much. Since my job at the records office was a part of that package, they told me I could no longer work there. I was devastated. How could this happen to me? I needed that job. How could they take it away from me? As Scott would say, I was drowning in a sea of self pity.

Sometime later, I was in church and the pastor read from Luke 16:10-12. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" I felt like I had been hit in the face with these verses. I felt like I was the only person in the room and the pastor was speaking directly to me. God was trying to get my attention. The money I was earning was not mine. Every penny I earned was a gift from God and it was my responsibility to be trustworthy with it. In that moment I knew exactly why I lost my job: God took it from me because I was relying on it to sustain me instead of on Him. He had my attention. I immediately started giving to my church again (I was working several hours a week as a tutor). Even though it amounted to just a couple dollars a week, it was necessary in order for me to understand that everything (including the air I breathe) was a gift from God. I deserve nothing, I earn nothing, I own nothing. Everything is a gift from Him.

This was certainly an awaking experience, but it's nothing compared to what happened a few weeks later. I was called into the financial aid office again and was told that they made a mistake when they reevaluated my aid package. They were giving me my job back. And for the second time that semester, God had my full attention. I knew with absolute certainty that God had given the job back to me because I understood He was the one that provided my every needs. From that day on, I always gave God His portion, even when I was going through financial hardships. And He has always been faithful to provide everything I need.

When God wants our attention, He will do whatever it takes to get through to us. I am so thankful that He got through to me in a way that I will never forget. I pray that all your hearts will be open to what God is trying to say, so that you won't have to learn the hard way, like I did.