Ebed- Melech
Jeremiah 38:2 "Thus says the LORD, 'He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.' 3"Thus says the LORD, 'This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.'"
People love to listen to cozy and comfy stuff but they rebel against commandments, rules and instructions, are you listening? If somebody is giving some juicy prophecy, there is traffic jam there – fake or con men doesn’t matter – all people want is something cool; Jeremiah was facing much the same situation in the above scripture when he preached the truth (though unpopular) to the people to surrender to the Chaldeans and submit to their mercy because if they disobey and stay in the city, then the city will be burnt and they will be destroyed; however, none believed nor did they obey the word of God that came through Jeremiah.
All God wanted from His people is to TRUST Him but none had an iota of trust in their God. Did you know anxiety hampers faith but trust boosts faith? When I walked into an Officer’s room in the year 2011 with my big file with all relevant documents for the running of our Abide School, I was filled with angst, fear, confusion and worry: “How would I handle this educational institution with no prior experience? How will I go about this? – a million questions hammered my mind. Well, as I went through the grind, day in and day out with fasting and prayer , visiting the officials, various desks and a lot of running around – now, calmness and peace has come over me! Hurray! I don’t have to fret and fume, I don’t have to get frustrated and discouraged – God would bring it through! He did, we received Government recognition in the year 2015 in the whole district. Amen. You will be unique when you trust God! The Bible says, Isaiah 26:4”Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.” Wow!
While the whole city despised prophet Jeremiah and thought he was preaching discouraging news to the people at a time when they needed encouragement, so they threw him into a hole without water but one man believed the news that was preached by Jeremiah, his name was Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's palace. Let me take digression here and speak to you personally:
God would organize somebody who would take notice of your situation and come forward to help you, no need of business cards, social media requests, frantic phone calls.......NOTHING....your DIVINE ENCOUNTER would come searching for you, that would take place suddenly and would come on time. This is prophetic for someone out there...
Ebed Melech boldly approached king Zedekiah and told him about the plight of Jeremiah and also said that if he is not saved now he would die of hunger and danger. Zedekiah immediately said "Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies." Did you hear that, 30 men from Ebed-Melech team (who are under your authority the king said) , wow, when God starts moving, He takes cares of every small detail - relax. Jeremiah is finally saved and kept safe in the court itself, God is your hiding place. The story is not over, when finally the city was captured by the enemies, God remembered Ebed-melech, He said: "For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me," declares the Lord. What floored God about Ebed-Melech is his trust in Him and the fact that he acknowledged the Word of God preached by Jeremiah and respected him despite the whole city loathing and despising Jeremiah! Amen.
Learn to discern the voice of God that comes through a servant of God and obey; no fun being mere hearers of the Word like king Zedekiah who heard the Word of God through Jeremiah, liked him too, took care of him too; however, he failed to trust God. Great danger when you fail to trust God in the midst of chaos.
TRUST IN HIM:
Isaiah 26:3”You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
About the unusual blunders that Viswanathan Anand committed during the World Chess championship, Magnus Carlsen said: “It really has to do with being put under pressure. And really, that’s all that I wanted to do in this match.” The otherwise cool Anand, lost his peace and the match because he failed to remain calm and composed! Yep, stress and pressure destroys peace!
You must actually go through some turbulent waters, in order to understand this ‘perfect peace’! Friend, never consider me an epitome of faith or someone who is unshakeable, I am able to write on these subjects because I have been shaken many, many times but the good news is that God did not allow me to stay there shaking in the ground, He picked me up and taught me lessons of faith. I have also wondered, ‘why did God not save the time of all this anxiety, agony and angst and answer us swiftly?’ We would never learn to trust Him otherwise!
It was the first ‘three days retreat training camp’ that we were holding in a grand manner for which besides the main worship hall, we had to book dormitory for men and women, book food caterers, musicians and much, much more. We were getting close to the meeting, besides booking the hall, we had to arrange huge money to meet all these needs. Nothing happened till the last day of our travel to the city; it was eerie! Besides this, we had crossed the due date of payment of tuition fees for my son which was also glaring daggers at us! Never ever be intimidated by turbulence! Now, in the midst of all this muddle, I was the main preacher and I had to get ready for the meetings and preach on ‘faith!’ It is in this scenario we need ‘perfect peace’ to operate! Are you listening? Without running helter-skelter for money, nor hinting to others about the problem, keeping the mind stayed on God to meet the needs is called perfect peace!
On the third day of the meeting, as we were about to say the closing prayer, an elderly man whom we knew earlier, came up to me on the stage and handed over a couple of offering covers and left. Miraculously we were able to pay every bill and walk out of the auditorium victoriously; however, we did not have any leftovers, the tuition fees had to be paid as soon as we reach home!!!!! The next day being Sunday, I was invited to preach by a dear pastor in his church, after that service, God met the exact amount that we needed for the tuition fees as well. He is our Provider!
We had gone through umpteen situations like the ones that I mentioned above and most of the time, God did not bail us out immediately – His timing is perfect. Now, a question arises as to how to peacefully cross this period of anxiety? It can be waiting for a visa, college admission, transfer, promotion, operation, scanning report or anything that can give you palpitations; the answer is given by Apostle Paul: Philippians 4:6,7 “ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God bless you!
How do I trust and handle stress:
As a mother of two grown up children, leading a church, writing spiritual articles and running a school as well, I am sure you do wonder how Bala tackles these things? Let me tell you, there were situations when I felt clueless and helpless! I am no superwoman to say that I never felt insecure, there were times when I just closed my eyes and asked God to give me some rest and sound sleep so that I could have peace for some hours. Believe me, I did that.
a) How I handle situations? Write it down and pray: Solution for stress is no rocket science, we have to take it to God in prayer – point-by-point. I write it out, right from rent to electricity bill and fees for children and I plead at His feet. It has worked for me.
b) Avoid last minute stress, hence jot down priorities: Prepare a ‘to-do’ list for office work. Start from the ‘most urgent’ ones to begin with and most important, do not trust your memory – I repeat, write it down. Wake up early to complete work, without last minute running around.
c) Pray, Plan & prepare: If you travel a lot for ministry or work, keep a ‘check list’ of travel items required: passport, required currency, mobile charger, mobile, travel kits, etc., – keep them ready before hand. Preplan, pray and prepare to avoid stress! Last minute crisis can sap energy.
God bless you,
Sis Bala Samson
