Decision and Deliberation

“Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor … And Ahab killed an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead.” (2 Chronicles 18:1-2)

Wherever there is not a settled commitment in your heart to obey the Lord, there is an open door for sin to pounce.

Jehoshaphat wanted to honor the Lord. 

But he wanted opulence even more. 

Ahab saw this as his opportunity. It only took a grand feast of sheep and oxen to pull the king of Judah into an alliance with the enemy.

But with Micaiah, Ahab knew better.

After Ahab’s in-house prophets gave the boss a thumbs up, he dreaded the thought of asking the prophet who only took orders from above.

“And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.’ But Micaiah said, ‘As the LORD lives, what my God says, that I will speak.’” (2 Chronicles 18:12-13)

Micaiah had a reputation for resolve. Ahab and the angels knew that the prophet wouldn’t take a bribe or listen to a lying spirit (2 Chronicles 18:7; 21-22). Before Micaiah even saw the king, he decided in advance that he would say whatever God told him to say. 

Jehoshaphat should have decided in advance. But he waited to deliberate until he was already in agreement with Ahab.

Do you have a reputation for resolve in the heavenly realm? Have you, like Micaiah, sealed your whole heart with a settled commitment to stay true to the Lord?

It comes down to a settled commitment, made in advance of the encounter.

Commit in advance to speak what God says, and you won’t fall into the embarrassing outcome of flattery (2 Chronicles 18:24).

Commit in advance to choose principle over pleasure, and you won’t spiral into a compromising crisis (2 Chronicles 18:31).

Commit in advance to stay true to Christ, no matter what, and you won’t follow a lying spirit along with the crowds (2 Chronicles 18:21-22). 

The vulnerabilities come when we wait to decide until we are already eating with Ahab. Postponing the decision until the moment of temptation reveals that something has been compromised in our fidelity to Christ.

Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness was a temptation, not a deliberation. He had already decided to obey (Matthew 4:1-11).

This is how his faithful ones enter into the encounter. The enemy can’t induce those who have already decided on an “It is written.”