Power: Folly and Blessing

I watched the Inauguration with awe. Not because Trump was being sworn into office but because of the peaceful transfer of power that exists in our country. It is hard to believe that Obama and Trump were on the same platform together talking amiably. Then they walked off into the sunset, as Trump walked Obama to an awaiting helicopter, leaving the White House for the last time as the most powerful man in the free world. This is a rarity in most countries, is it not? Whether your party won the White House or not, you have to be in awe of the wisdom of the Founding Fathers of our nation to make a Constitution that makes this possible. Most transitions of power in the history of the world are soaked in bloodshed.Such is the case when we look at the folly and blessing of power this Sunday (mostly folly when in human hands). This week we will conclude looking at one king who abused power more than any other in Israel’s history. When power is abused - justice is squashed, people are coerced, wickedness reigns, and there is no peace in the city. It all looks so familiar and that is why the writer includes this in Holy Scripture, is it not? In a broken world, power tends to corrupt and God’s people seem to continually be asking Him, “How long, oh Lord?” However, there is another voice we will see in our text and it is summed up by Ronald Wallace in his book Elijah and Elisha. Ponder this as we prepare to gather Sunday and seek to re-narrate our lives and loves as we worship God. I encourage you to read I Kings 20-22 and II Kings 1-2. Enjoy!!"For to see Elijah appear so suddenly reminds us that we need not despair when we see great movements of evil achieving spectacular success on this earth, for we may be sure that God, in uexpected places, has already secretly prepared His counter-movement. God has always His ways of working underground to undermine the stability of evil. He can raise men for his service from nowhere… Therefore the situation is never hopeless where God is concerned. Whenever evil flourishes, it is always a superficial flourish, for at the height of the triumph of evil, God will be there, ready with His man and His movement and His plans to ensure that His own cause will never fail."Blessings,Jim