Where To Put Your Foot Down

Walking on thin ice is an uncomfortable situation. And we are a generation of people who are doing it. Back in the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. the Assyrians were pushing their way towards the Mediterranean coast, and King Ahaz of Judah was invited to join his neighbors to the north in resisting the Assyrian forces. When he refused, they threatened to invade and destroy him. He decided he should ask the Assyrians for help, and Isaiah the prophet said "No, leave the alliances alone!" But Ahaz went ahead anyway. He sold out to the enemy and was called the "Judas" of his time.

Later, Hezekiah, the king who was now suffering from the oppression of taxes to this same Assyria, threatened to make an alliance with Egypt, and once again Isaiah counseled "No". "The Egyptians are men, not God." he said. "Horses are flesh, not spirit."

All of which suggests that when we are running scared, we often lose our sense of values, and we turn to any willow‑the‑wisp that appears. We cling to any straws!

From the beginning, we have fallen snare to the delusion that military might and the strength of our arm would save us. When will we begin to ask that God's will be done and not ours? Isaiah the prophet found Ahaz "shaking like a leaf" when they met, and when the prophet said, "Why?" the reply came: "Haven't you heard that we are going to be invaded? Israel and Syria are breathing down my throat." And Isaiah says, "Of course, I've heard, but what are you afraid of? The Lord is with us." And Ahaz says: "Yes, but I want something real! I want help from Assyria."

We are told that Thomas Carlyle had a great mind, but was troubled by trifles. A neighbor had a rooster that crowed every morning at 4 a.m. When Carlyle complained, the neighbor said, "Does the crowing keep you awake?" "No, it isn't the crowing...it's my lying awake, waiting for him to crow."

And so, we are all tormented. What or who can we trust? Where can we put our foot down with confidence, without having the rug pulled out from under us? And each of us must decide. Are we ruled by fear or by faith? Ahaz was ruled by fear and he tried to "buy" protection. Where will we place our faith? Do we believe in armies, or in God? Is it to be the lottery, or common‑sense Savings accounts? A business man had a motto on his desk. It said, "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts!" Most of us honor and revere our faith. And yet we seem to believe that it is impractical and irrelevant to life today. But take a look at the facts: the way we have dealt with one another and with other nations through the years has not been very practical. "Destroy them before they destroy us" seems to be our philosophy. But is there a better way, a spiritual way, based upon the only absolute there is: love?

The problem of Ahaz is the problem of our own times. We have too much faith in the wrong things. Soldiers, horses, guns and bombs...these are flesh, not spirit. You can't depend on them. If you put your foot down on this foundation you'll fall through. But put your faith in the good Lord God, and you have something no treasure can buy.