I really have a few thousand other things to be doing right now. I am neglecting a huge stack of stuff to be sitting here in front of this computer. And yet I just can't seem to resist the pull to comment on something I have just read. It's a book. A short one at that. I read it today in just over an hour. It was put into my hands with the admonishment that I should read it. That it would answer a lot of my questions. Has it ever. Its a jaw dropping, eye brow raising, make you gasp out loud commentary on the pain, injustice, and heartache we often receive at the hands of other believers. This little book is called "A Tale of Three Kings" by Gene Edwards.
This book is for anyone who has ever lived thru conflict in a church or with other believers. In other words, it's for nearly everyone. The three kings referred to in the title are Saul, David, and Absalom. Two are bad examples of servants of the Lord. The third, David, though a flawed vessel, was as we know "a man after God's own heart". There is a whole lot to learn from understanding the ways God worked thru the lives of all three of these men that teaches us much about where we can still find ourselves over a few millinea later. Who knew?
The Sauls in our lives are the tyrannical leaders and others we encounter as we try to follow The Way. They claim the right to throw spears. They tell us over and over that they have this right for whatever reason they deem appropriate. Often times they cite the greater good, the higher calling, stamping out sin, the ends justifying the means, etc. Saul did this. He hunted David down like a dog. He claimed the right to do this as King. Was he not God's anointed one after all? He was indeed. He saw David as a threat that had to be dealt with. We often encounter similar threats. Maybe no one is hunting us down to actually kill us, but fellow believers often kill our hearts and spirits in a thousand other ways. Social isolation. Slander. Gossip. Tearing down our reputation. Withholding resources. Disapproval. The cold shoulder. Dividing and conquering. Creating haves and have nots. Threatening tones. Sometimes even worse and more direct things. How do we react? Typically we pick up the spears and throw them back. Is this what we are supposed to do? Is this what God desires? Is division ever justified? That's where the book gets interesting......
The most important question that this book answered for me is the proverbial "Why?" Why would God have allowed David to be nearly crushed by Saul before delivering him? Why does He do the same thing today? Why does He let those who love Him, who seek Him, to languish in toxic places and broken relationships? Why do we find ourselves living in kingdoms run by lots of Sauls? According to this book, because God can't use an unbroken, unsubmissive vessel. And there is lots of biblical precedent to back this up. Joseph. David. Jesus. Paul, just to name a few. All were broken before they could be God's chosen instruments. Since God is constant and never changing, the same yesterday as He is today, why would we expect His ways to be any different in 2011? They aren't.
What God wants from us as we face the Sauls in our lives, is to kill off our own inner Sauls. This quote perhaps, the pinnacle of the book " As long as you look at your king you will blame him and him alone for your present hell. Be careful, for God has His eyes fastened sharply on another King Saul. Not the visible one standing up there throwing spears at you. No, God is looking at another King Saul. One just as bad or worse- God is looking at the King Saul in you." He goes on to say that yes, it is true that David was nearly destroyed during the process of being refined by the Refiner's fire, but this had to be. Otherwise the Saul in him would have survived. And while we may not like this, and the majority of us won't stand for it, it is necessary and the desire of God to break us so that He can use us. He simply must kill off the Saul in each of us if He is to use us for his kingdom. Now that's a tough lesson. But is does explain a whole lot. At least it does to me........
So- what do we do? What is the solution? How do we survive the King Sauls in our lives? We sing songs of praise. We sit tight. We forebear patiently. We dodge the spears. We do not pick them up or throw them back. We learn humility. We trust God. We wait for Him to move. We trust that He has not forsaken us. In essence, we let him crush us. Knowing that like a rose petal, when it is crushed, the true fragrance is released. And we remember- that while David lived to a ripe old age and remained the beloved of God, Saul and Absalom each met rather unfortunate ends. Those who "live by the sword shall die by the sword". Or to quote my favorite biblical scholar "Plan A: Be Christlike. Plan B: There is no Plan B". Shalom!
(For the whole story which is much better than any synopsis I could write, read of A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards)
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