One wonders what Jehoshaphat would have done if he had only seen the future. He had made an alliance with Ahab’s family through the marriage of his son to Athaliah, Ahab’s daughter. What would Jehoshaphat have thought if he had known that this daughter would turn his son away from the Lord, convince him to murder his brothers, and that she would then attempt to wipe out the rest of the royal family upon the death of her son so that she could seize control of the country?
Fortunately for Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah’s sister was able to save one of Ahaziah’s sons, Joash, from the hand of Athaliah. And after hiding in the temple for six years, he was brought out by the priest Jehoiada and crowned king of Judah.
We can look at the actions of Athaliah and despise her for what she did. But how often do we do the same thing as her: seize control of the throne of our hearts and displace the true king?
The Bible says that God is to be our king, but so often we push him off of the throne of your hearts, and we usurp his position. Instead of living for him, we live for ourselves. Instead of following him, we follow our own desires.
And when God tries to take his rightful place in our hearts, like Athaliah, we scream out, demanding our right to sit in that throne.
So often, when we take control of the throne of our hearts, we think it’ll make us happy. But when all is said and done, we end up making a mess of things. Our marriages fall apart. Our families fall apart. And everything we looked to build up in our lives comes tumbling down.
But what happens when God takes the throne? That’s when true joy comes. And God can bring healing to what has been damaged or destroyed by our bad decisions. The people of Judah suffered under the reign of Athaliah for 6 years, but when the true king took the throne, they had hope once again. And they rejoiced. You may be suffering from the bad choices you have made, but if you put God on the throne, there can be hope in your life once again. And with that hope, joy.
Have you usurped God’s position on the throne of your heart? Let us restore God to his rightful place, and make him king of our lives once again.
