“But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. (2 Kings 11:2 NIV)
Jehosheba's story is a special one. She grew up in an environment that was saturated with evil. Being a daughter of Judah’s bad King Jehoram by his second wife, she was also tied in with her father’s first wife, Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel - the ones God wanted to wipe out. Hence, she was constantly exposed to and involved in the idolatry of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. The God of Scripture was rejected by her family. But Jehosheba didn't follow the ways of her ancestors. Instead she courageously chose to stand up against evil through her actions, while God chose her to protect David's bloodline. When Athaliah began to kill her own grandchildren to save her regency, Jehosheba stole her nephew, Joash, from among the corpses of the king’s sons and hid him for six years from the murderous woman. Thus, to Jehosheba goes the credit of preserving 'the royal seed', for had Joash also perished the line of Judah would have been extinct. God kept His promise again, this time through Jehosheba.
The story of Jehosheba teaches us about commitment to following God and gives an example of godly choice making. She didn't follow 'the usual ways' of her family but God's will only - in fact, her choices separated her from them and created conflict. Jesus teaches us in Mt 10:34-39 about loving Him more than our families. He says it quite frankly, “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (v.37)
Where do you value your family or friends' ways or opinions higher than God's ways? And is that because you are afraid of conflict? May today be the day to change that?
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Lord, please reveal to me in which areas of my life I need to love you more. Please show me your truths and fill me with your wisdom so that I can make good decisions.