2nd Kings 11 & 12 When To Use The Spurs

Ahaziah had been killed because he was in the wrong place with the wrong person at the wrong time.  Several of his relatives were also killed.  Strangely, when his mother, Athaliah, heard about the deaths, her very first reaction was to round up everyone ELSE in her family to kill THEM, too! She was power-mad and wanted to rule as queen.  Thankfully, Ahaziah's sister was brave enough to save her newborn brother and herself.  She made it to the Temple, where they hid out for over six years.

In the seventh year, the high priest gathered the army officers, swore their allegiance, then revealed the crown prince, and shortly thereafter, Joash was revealed to the people.  Queen Athaliah was screaming, "TRAITORS!" as they unceremoniously captured and killed her.  You'd think that a mother would have been overjoyed to see her daughter and now 7-year-old son, but she was ruled by evil.

At the tender age of seven, Joash became king of Judah, and the high priest became his tutor and advisor.  Joash was quick on the uptake, and didn't mind telling his advisor when he saw something that wasn't right.  He'd seen the offerings pouring into the Temple for years, but his young eyes had also seen the rundown condition of the Temple and the deferred repairs piling up as well.

TWENTY-THREE YEARS of that was all he could stand, and he finally halted the Temple tax and told the priests to NOT make the repairs -- he'd have common laborers do the work.  They soon had the place in tiptop shape and the whole job came in within budget!

I feel that I'm a lot like Joash in this respect.  When I see a project that needs doing, I want to get it started, make sure it stays on track, and then see it FINISHED.  Anything else breeds real frustration within me.  Yet I can't IMAGINE what a 23-year wait must have done to Joash!  God must have given him a double measure of patience and diplomacy!

Father, help me when I find myself in situations where things aren't moving as quickly as I feel that they should.  Though a "Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way" philosophy sounds good, help me to have the patience and diplomacy I need so that I won't lose friends along the way.  Help me to be gentle with the spurs to keep people going, because nothing kills a project like apathy.  I trust You to guide me so that I in turn can correctly guide others.