I’ve written before about the complex story of the kings of Judah and Israel that we read about in the Bible. Sometimes I get lost in who is who and whether or not they have done right or not, but as I read through the stories I often see so much gold that is helpful for me in my leadership journey.

Today I came across a king called Amaziah. He reigned in the southern kingdom of Judah and has taken over from King Joash. Overall the scriptures tell us that he did a decent job.

He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. 2 Chron 25:2

He reigned in Judah for 29 years from when he took up the throne as a 25 year old. Because of the various wars over land that were going on at that time Amaziah was keen to build up his army. We are told that he finds 300,000 fighting men over the age of 20 in Judah, and he decides to hire another 100,000 troops from the tribe of Ephraim in Israel. He is readying himself for war.

In the middle of all of his recruiting an man of God comes to him and tells him that the soldiers he has hired from Israel should not march with his men into war. He goes on to explain that God is not with Israel and even if all his men, the hired and the home help, were to fight courageously in battle they would lose because ultimately God has the power to overthrow them. Naturally Amaziah is a little gutted about this but listen to the interaction between the two of them.

Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?” The man of God replied, “The LORD can give you much more than that.” 2 Chron 25:9

Now, if I had time we could go on and see the rest of the story of Amaziah and I would encourage you to do that….but it is that last line which I want to focus on.

The Lord can give you much more than that.

I need to hear that sentence time and time again in my life. Too often like Amaziah I think because I’ve put in so much effort, so much time, perhaps so much money that I’ve wasted it, or that I deserve a return from it. I limit what I think God can do and give because I bring a human, natural mindset to Him.

I know I’ve written about this many times over the years but when we will truly get to the place that we trust in God’s abundance? I’m not talking about any kind of crazy prosperity gospel theology but the truth is most of us, certainly in my context, are in no danger of that…..but we are in serious danger of a poverty gospel.

We too often count the cost of what God has called us to which ends up counting us out of the very call we received in the first place.

We must learn to trust Him in these moments. He is the God of the universe but too often we treat Him like a small time deal. What would it look like to truly believe the Lord could give us so much more than what we sacrificed?