Not My Story

She's sleeping peacefully while I ponder the implications of kidnapping.

I read a story this morning that was really interesting. The commander of an army had an incurable disease but he was a great commander and had just won a major battle. During that battle the army kidnapped a young girl to be the commander's wife's servant. Instead of sabotaging the commander or sneaking away in the night, the girl served and even gave the commander's wife a tip on who would be able to cure the commander's disease! So the commander of course goes to see this man and he does in fact get cured. The man refuses any payment but while the commander is leaving one of the man's helpers runs out to him and lies to him, saying they do need some money. The commander of course pays him but when questioned the helper lies to the man saying he didn't go anywhere. The man then curses him and his descendants with the incurable disease that the commander had! Pretty crazy right - and that's just my quick overview!

The thing that sticks out to me the most is the young girl. The commander took her away from everything she knew and she helped improve his life! I really don't know that I would do that. I mean, come on, he kidnapped her! Of course, when I thought about it more I realized that my desire to sneak away in the night, or poison him or something dramatic stems from my belief that I have a good plan for my life and it doesn't involve being kidnapped. That and my life is all about me.

I'm grateful, however, that God knows the plan and he's way better at planning than I am. He created everything and holds it all together (Hebrews 1:3). Also, if I profess that my life isn't about me anymore then I should be honored that God would use me to bring glory to His name even if it involved circumstances that I wouldn't have picked out myself. Seriously, when I think about it now, I would be honored to be kidnapped to play a part in God's story. To be able to show the general and his wife a love that they don't know and be a part of their transformation would be so exciting! Of course it would also be heart-wrenching to have to leave my family and not know what to expect or what would happen to me but as Paul tells Timothy, "... everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted..." (2 Tim. 3:12)

And Jesus also said "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:43-45
I love that last part but let's not get into that now...

To read the full story and learn about how it's God's story check out 2 Kings chapter 5.