I Do Not Watch Baking Shows

Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 2 Kings 17:2

For years, my wife and kids watched a TV show that was all about baking. I did not participate because I do not watch TV shows about baking. That’s a waste of time. Or so I thought. Then, just to spend time with my wife one winter day, I finally watched some British TV Baking show. You know what? It was fantastic. I loved it and I wanted more. There’s a lot of garbage on TV that I won’t watch, but in the midst of all that is this hilariously entertaining, wholesome show about baking. Now, I can’t wait until the next season comes out. While I refused to believe it was worthwhile, I missed out. Only when I gave it a chance did I realize what I was missing.

Faith can be like that, which is illustrated in today’s passage. In the story, the city of Samaria was besieged by the Syrians, causing a famine. At the height of the calamity, the prophet Elisha predicted that by the next day, food would be plentiful. Upon hearing this prediction, the captain of the king’s guard expressed doubt. That’s impossible. Elisha declared that for his lack of faith, the captain would see it but not experience it. Sure enough, the next day, the Syrian army fled, leaving behind all their food and supplies. The captain witnessed the event but was trampled to death by the surge of people trying to get to the food. Because he refused to believe God could do this miraculous thing, he never got to experience it.

In my drug addiction, I wanted God to have the answer. When I went to him though, he insisted that I confess, go to treatment, and change my life. I just didn’t believe that was the right answer though. I’m not doing that. As long as I refused to believe and obey, I didn’t get to experience recovery. It was only when I finally accepted God’s plan that I found the new life. Only when I believed God and followed him, did I get to experience recovery.

God wants us all to experience the new life. Often though, we don’t get there because we refuse to believe in and follow him. I’m not doing that. While we refuse to believe and obey, we’ll never find the new life. Only when we believe and follow, do we find what we’ve been searching for all along.