I hope for a day when God’s Kingdom will fill this earth and we will all be able to learn from Him. In my limited capacity as a human, it’s hard to believe because my doubts keep getting in the way. I keep seeing the truly awful things we humans do today; awful things recorded in Scripture and our history books. How will God be able to make all things right? Maybe that’s the problem. I see the sweep of history; the doubts that keep tugging at me. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7. What heart will He see when we are standing before Him? What heart will we see?

In 1 Kings 21 we see two minds working together for purely selfish ends. Ahab sees the vineyard of his neighbor Naboth that sat close to the palace. Ahab wanted to turn it into a vegetable garden. He offers money or a better vineyard. Naboth refuses because this land is not only his inheritance but his inheritance from his ancestors. v. 1-3. So what does Ahab do? He sulks and refuses to eat. He is a child. Jezebel, his wife, tells him to get up and she will get him what he wants. She writes letters to the elders and nobles in Ahab’s name and instructs them to Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death. v. 9-10. And that is exactly what happened. Can you imagine securing or enjoying land you acquired that way? Jezebel doesn’t even believe in God and actively worships what is not God. She uses deception and lies and God’s name to kill a man.

Elijah is sent by God to Ahab while Ahab is in Naboth’s vineyard. He tells Ahab what will befall him for this treachery against Naboth. He also tells him what will become of Jezebel. Surprisingly, Ahab believes Elijah and tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, fasted, went around meekly, v. 17-27. The Lord noticed and so He tells Elijah this coming disaster will happen not in Ahab’s day but to his house in the days of his son, v. 28-29. Did Ahab care about his son or only about himself? I don’t know about Ahab but I know God cares.

In Luke 15:1-7, Jesus told about the shepherd leaving the 99 to find the one who is lost. Are we not lost in our sins? Can we begin to have hope not just for ourselves but for those like us who are lost? God looks at the heart but can we see He looks at the heart that sees Him? That gives me hope…not because of me and my limited viewpoint knowing my sins and the sins of others…but because of God Almighty. He is my hope. I put my trust in Him. He is able.