“And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore [is] wrath upon thee from before the LORD. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.” (2Ch 19:2-3 AV)
We can survive our bad choices by having a pattern of good ones. Jehoshaphat had a major flaw. He felt a loyalty to those who hated God that cost him. He went to war with Ahab, whom God was preparing to judge. Then he assisted Ahaziah, whom the LORD had also determined to judge. He did so because they were fellow Jewish kings. Rather than leave the ungodly to the hand of God, he intervened. Whether he was merely empathetic, or worse, wanted to soften divine judgment, it was not the will of the LORD for him. Even though Jehoshaphat had a big heart that led him into wrong allegiances, and the wrath of God rested on him for it, he still prepared his heart to seek the LORD. Even though he made a few blunders, he earned a reputation as a king who prepared his heart to seek the LORD. It is important we do not let our failures and flaws define who and what we are. It is important others don’t remember us for the failures we accrued. If we prepare our hearts to seek the LORD, that is what others will remember and not the times in which we failed.
As far as I know, outside of Jesus Christ, no one has ever lived a perfect life. When reading the word of God, we often forget this. We assume people like Abraham, Joseph, David, or Paul were as perfect as a person can be. Somehow, we think they lived perfect lives with no sin worth mentioning. However, Abraham had an intimate relationship with his wife’s maid. Joseph worked for a nation who would end up as Israel’s most bitter enemy. David, of course, had an affair and covered it up by having his mistress’ husband killed in battle. And Paul? Paul ignored the leading of the Holy Spirit and ended up in prison. We could go through the list of the heroes of Hebrews chapter eleven and reveal the mistakes they made. However, their mistakes were not what they were known for. They were known for the significant steps of faith for which they are famous. David is known for killing Goliath. Abraham is known for offering his son, Isaac. Joseph is known for saving the nation of Israel from famine. And Paul is known as the greatest missionary to ever live and as the author of many of the books of the New Testament. It is not the failures that defined them. It was the obedience and faith they lived in that did.
The same is true of Jehoshaphat. He may have made some big mistakes. He may have had a big heart that got him in trouble. God may have been upset with him because of his misguided loyalties. But apart from all that, he prepared his heart to seek the LORD. What of us? Are we failures? You bet! Have we sinned? Much! But does that mean our missteps have to be what God remembers and what others admire? Some in Christianity want to make this so. They have no compassion for those who have made poor choices. It is as if they desire those who have failed to remain defeated. This is not the heart of God. God desires victory! Even if there are setbacks in the battle for God’s glory, He still wants us to come out on top. This is the heart of God. The devil wants to remind us of just how far from Christlikeness we are and when we meditate on that sad fact, to keep us in a defeated state of mind. This doesn’t change a thing. There are still lost souls out there who couldn’t care less about what you have done in the past. They need hope and they realize they are no better. Along life’s journey, there are discouraged saints who need to see the hope you can bring, regardless of the shortcomings in your life. They need to see there is hope for them. Yes, our king made some colossal blunders. No doubt he wished he could take them back. But that didn’t stop him from preparing his heart to seek God. It didn’t stop the Holy Spirit from mentioning the good Jehoshaphat did. His heart will forever be memorialized in the word of God because in spite of his sin, he prioritized preparing his heart to seek the LORD!
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