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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Trips sometimes have potholes.

Rehoboam (the king of Judah, the south) and Jeroboam (the king of Israel, the north) had both strayed far from the path.  Neither of them were walking together with God.  The result was that the blessings given to their ancestors, Solomon and David, were no longer being given to them.  To make things worse, they turned against one another.

There was constant war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. (1 Kings 14:30 NLT)

Life has potholes.  They are bumps in the road that are caused by previous stressors.  Sometimes they can be avoided.  Sometimes we see them too late so we hit them anyway.  Sometimes there are so many of them that they are unavoidable.  Potholes can slow down or even temporarily stop our progress.  Once I hit a pothole while driving in pouring down rain.  It sliced my rear tire across the width of the tire.  The car spun out.  I thank God that we didn’t hit anything and that no other car hit us.  I did, however, need to change the tire in the pouring rain.

When Rehoboam died, he was buried among his ancestors in the City of David. His mother was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. Then his son Abijam became the next king. (1 Kings 14:31 NLT)

We can learn from potholes that we have hit in the past.  Not only that, we can learn from potholes that our older brothers, sister, parents, or grandparents have hit.  We can drive more slowly, drive around them, or take a different path altogether.  This is how we gain wisdom from potholes already hit.  Sometimes we gain this wisdom.  Sometimes we do not.

Abijam began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign in Israel. He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the LORD his God… (1 Kings 15:1-3 NLT)

How about you?  Have you ever hit potholes when you were riding a bike or driving?  Have you ever hit “potholes” in your walk together with God?  Have you learned from those experiences?  Have you learned from the experiences of others around you?  Have you grown in wisdom because of potholes in your life?

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