The Probation Officer

“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD. Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” 2 Chronicles 19:2-3

Working in addiction medicine, I encounter failure on a regular basis. Relapse isn’t an unusual occurrence, but rather, it’s expected. I’m not the police though, and my job isn’t to catch my patients when they fail. Many of my patients have a probation officer (PO) for that. I don’t envy the PO’s job. It’s their duty to supervise those who’ve been convicted of a crime, but who’ve been allowed to live in the community instead of being incarcerated. This supervision involves regular check-ins and drug testing to ensure that the offender follows the rules. When a probationer does break the rules, then the PO must decide what to do with them – Give them another chance or send them back to jail? Sometimes the PO is lenient and sometimes they’re rigid. The difference I think, lies in whether the client has been trying or not. If the individual has genuinely tried to be compliant, but then has a slip up, the PO is often forbearing. If, however, the client has been manipulative, dishonest, and uncooperative, then the PO is often quite rigid. The difference is in the heart of the offender. Have they been trying or not?

This same measuring of the heart is illustrated in today’s passage, In the story, King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat combined forces for an ill-fated military campaign against the Syrians. The prophet Micaiah warned them of defeat, but they went anyway. Ahab was killed, but Jehoshaphat survived. Why? When Jehoshaphat returned home, another prophet, Jehu, confronted Jehoshaphat with his sin, informing him that he’d angered God. God though, measured Jehoshaphat’s heart. From his past behavior, God knew that Jehoshaphat genuinely tried to follow God, usually attempting to do what was right. So, God forgave Jehoshaphat, while Ahab was killed. God had already pronounced judgement on Ahab for his life of worshipping foreign idols. Two men committed the same crime, with one paying with his life and the other going free. The difference was in their heart. Did they usually try to follow God or not?

We may find some comfort in this. We’re not perfect. We still struggle and we still fail. When we do fail, is God going to smite us? That may depend on what he’s seen from us. Have we lived a life of truly trying to follow him? Or have we lived only for self? When we fail, God sees what’s in our heart, and that, I think, will make the difference in how he responds to our failure.