Staying Within Yourself

“Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?” (2Ki 14:10 AV)

At the inception of his reign, the Bible says of Amaziah that he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD yet not like David his father, but like Joash who slipped into a bit of a problem later in his ministry.  Amaziah was chased and murdered, ending his twenty-nine-year reign.  His son would follow and reign fifty-two years.   At first glance, I wondered why the people would want to murder a king who mostly did that which was right in the sight of the LORD.  The above account might give reason.

Amaziah was successful going up against Edom.  He had slain tens of thousands of rebels and took back some cities lost to Edom.  This success motivated him to contact the king of Israel for the purpose of scheduling a battle.  Amaziah felt pretty good after winning, so he felt he could win some more.  The warning above was the response of the king of Israel.  What followed was a disaster.  Israel had hired Syria to help and Judah was in a fix.  So, Judah had to hire Assyria by way of emptying the government and sacred coffers.  Amaziah initially lost the battle and it ended in a draw.  But he loss of the treasures was significant.  This loss of life and of wealth for nothing more than to satisfy a king’s pride was what got him killed.  He wouldn’t stay within himself.  He tried to be something that he was not.

Knowing how many talents we have been given is just as important as investing them.  Trying to invest five talents when the LORD has only given one leads to problems.  There is no shame in assessing one’s abilities given by God and staying within those abilities to serve the LORD.  I have seen men who resented those who have been dealt ten talents and react with envy at their success.  I have seen others try and be what others are and leave a work in ruins because they didn’t have the ability they thought they had.  Staying in the calling wherein you are called is sometimes a hard thing.  However, once surrendered to it, service become pure joy.  One really doesn’t care if others think you are an under-achiever or are not much in the whole scope of things.  What matters is what you do with what you’ve been given and being content to be used as the LORD intends and not what you or others intend.