Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: GET COLD FEET (10/12/17)
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TITLE: Trio of Trepidation | Previous Challenge Entry
By Elaine Hemingway
10/19/17 -
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The story is told in 1 Kings 17:1 to 19:19 relating the many ways in which Elijah was used by God. He was gifted and blessed; he had seen life restored, amazing provision made, miraculous proof of Yahweh’s might and power, well able to do more than thought of or imagined. So, after all the miracles that Elijah had witnessed and been a part of how could he have felt threatened by a mere woman?
But he was, and he ran! (1 Kings 19:3)
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When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” So he married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim …
And Gomer went beyond his wildest imaginings of what could go wrong in a marriage. She let him down in every way possible as well as degrading herself beyond Hosea’s conceptions. But she was symbolic of Israel, and the Lord spoke to him again. “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.”
How could he do that? How would the Lord work in such a situation? Doubts were inevitable and this was quite a challenge to get his head around. But the Lord’s ways were not necessarily as Hosea would expect, and Yahweh went on to explain. “Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” So Gomer went and bought her for fifty shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. (Hosea 3:2) He tried to be positive when he told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man and I will live with you.” How did he feel about that? Would it work? He had to step out in faith to prove it!
And Yahweh was faithful!
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What about the soldiers called into battle? Did all of them believe the prophets who said that victory was forthcoming? Did all of them follow David whole-heartedly, for example? Many must have gone out in doubt and fear. Sometimes even David, the Israelites’ hero who slew their arch enemy Goliath, knew the trauma of doubt and anxiety. The Philistines continued to cause concerns and towards the end of his life David failed to show his faith when he sent out Joab to take a census. What dire consequences that brought when David had to pay a price and choose the penalties his disobedience had caused.
He came to regret his doubts and fears but why had he considered them?
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Like all those who succumbed to weakness, we are involved in Spiritual warfare but have the advantage of victory over sin and evil, in all the dangerous forces loose in the world today. We have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, given to us when we confessed our faith.
2 Timothy 4:18 assures us: The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
No fear. No need for cold feet.
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Since these are familiar Bible characters in the Bible, I probably would have told the story from a different perspective.
Keep Writing.
For this piece, with your tie in to present day relevance, i think a present day example would have been helpful.