And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 2 Kings 1:13-14’
I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s absurd enough that it deserves repeating, so, here goes . . . I’ve always been curious about methamphetamine. I know it’s ridiculous and it’s embarrassing just to write it, but whenever I meet someone who’s used meth, there’s this little, preposterous part of my mind that thinks, I wonder what that’s like. The worst part is that I’ve got all the reasons not to use – the rotten teeth, the incarceration, the wreckage of a life – sitting right in front of me. I can draw a straight line between methamphetamine and its terrible consequences, and yet, there’s a little, sick part of my mind that wants to know how it feels. I’m just naturally curious. As I’ve often said though, that which is natural for me, is usually far from healthy. And so, if I want to avoid destroying my life again, I must learn from the mistakes of others.
If we truly desire to live in faith and recovery, we must learn from the pain and mistakes of those who’ve gone before us. That’s the lesson illustrated in today’s passage. In the story, Ahaziah, king of Israel, sent 50 men to fetch Elijah, the prophet of God. The captain of the 50 men approached Elijah in a hostile manner, commanding him to come down from his hill. Instead of coming down, Elijah called down fire from heaven, which consumed all the men. Upon hearing this, Ahaziah sent another 50 men who also demanded that Elijhah come down and, they too, were consumed by fire. So, Ahaziah sent yet another captain with 50 more men. This third captain, however, learned from the demanding posture of the first two captains. He changed his tone, humbling himself before Elijah, begging for mercy and grace. Wisely, he learned from the mistakes of all those who’d died before him, and it saved his life.
It is, unfortunately, my nature to learn some lessons for myself. This is often quite painful though. In recovery then, I’m beginning to mature, learning from others. The lesson is obvious when it comes to meth – I’m never going to feed that curiosity. If I look at my current life mistakes though – resentments, anger, gluttony – those are all failures that could have been avoided by observing the mistakes of others. Immaturity demands to learn for myself. Maturity observes the mistakes of others and avoids those mistakes. I’m tired of creating my own misery though, so today, I must choose maturity, pursing faith and recovery by learning from the mistakes of those who’ve gone before me.