It’s time to repair
Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar. ~ 2 Kings 12:9
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to see something that needs to be fixed, but how much harder it is to actually do something about it? A dripping faucet can go from “I’ll get to that” to “Why is there a swimming pool under the sink?” pretty quickly. Sometimes the things we ignore don’t fix themselves, they just get worse.
In today’s scripture reading, King Joash recognized that something important needed attention. The temple of the Lord had fallen into disrepair, and instead of simply talking about the problem, he took action. He instructed the priests to collect the money that was being brought into the house of the Lord and use it to repair the temple. When the original process wasn’t working, they changed the process. They put a chest beside the altar with a hole in the top, and the people began putting their offerings directly into it. The money was then used for the work that needed to be done.
There’s something very practical and powerful in this chapter for us today. Sometimes spiritual growth isn’t about starting something brand new. Sometimes it’s about noticing what has been neglected and allowing God to help us repair it. As God’s people, we’re called to pay attention to what matters, take responsibility for what God has entrusted to us, and be willing to make changes when the way we’ve been doing something isn’t working.
Here are three truths from this chapter that can help us do just that.
1. Pay attention to what has been neglected
The temple was the place where God’s people worshiped and encountered Him, but it had fallen into disrepair. Joash saw the condition of the temple and realized it couldn’t continue that way.
Sometimes the same thing can happen in our lives. We don’t intentionally walk away from God. We just get busy. Life happens. Responsibilities pile up. Our prayer time gets shorter, Bible reading becomes occasional, church becomes something we squeeze in when nothing else is happening, and before long we realize something that was once important has been neglected. Usually it doesn’t happen overnight. It happens one small decision at a time.
Maybe you’ve noticed that you’re more easily frustrated than you used to be. Maybe you’ve lost some of your joy. Maybe you’ve been carrying an offense that you thought you had dealt with. Maybe you’re constantly busy helping everyone else but rarely taking time to sit with God yourself. Don’t ignore those warning signs.
Joash didn’t look at the condition of the temple and say, “Well, I guess that’s just how things are now.” He recognized the need and did something about it. In your daily life, take some time to ask God, “Is there anything in my life that I’ve allowed to become neglected?” Maybe you need to restore your prayer life. Maybe you need to forgive someone. Maybe you need to make time for your family. Maybe you need to start taking care of your physical or emotional well being. Maybe you simply need to slow down long enough to hear the Holy Spirit again. You can’t repair what you refuse to acknowledge.
2. When something isn’t working, be willing to change the process
This is one of my favorite practical points in this chapter. The priests were supposed to collect the money and use it for the temple repairs, but for whatever reason, the process wasn’t accomplishing what needed to be done. So the system was changed. They put a chest beside the altar, made a hole in the top, and created a simple way for people to give. Once the money began coming in, it could be used for the repairs.
Sometimes we know something needs to change, but we keep doing the same thing and wondering why we’re getting the same results. That applies spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and even practically. Maybe you keep saying, “I need to spend more time with God,” but your mornings are already packed. Perhaps you need to change when you spend time with Him instead of simply wishing you had more time. Maybe you’re always overwhelmed because you say yes to everything. Perhaps the answer isn’t becoming better at managing an impossible schedule. Maybe you need to learn how to say no. Maybe a relationship continues to have the same conflict. Perhaps having the same conversation over and over isn’t working. You may need to change how you communicate, establish boundaries, or seek godly counsel.
Changing a process doesn’t mean you’re giving up. Sometimes it means you’re serious about accomplishing what God has placed in front of you. There are times when we ask God to change the outcome when He may be asking us to change the process. Ask yourself, “Is there something I keep trying to accomplish the same way even though it isn’t working?” Then ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom about what needs to change. God can give you a new strategy without changing the assignment.
3. Take care of what God has entrusted to you
The temple belonged to God, but the people had been entrusted with its care. Joash understood that repairing the temple wasn’t simply about fixing a building. It was about honoring something that belonged to God.
We have also been entrusted with things that matter. Our relationships, families, ministries, finances, time, gifts, opportunities, and even our influence are all things we’re responsible to steward well. Sometimes we’re waiting for God to give us something bigger while He’s asking us to take better care of what we already have.
Maybe you’re praying for a larger ministry, but God is asking you to faithfully serve the people already in front of you. Maybe you’re praying for financial increase, but God is asking you to become more intentional with what you already have. Maybe you’re asking God for a better relationship while He’s asking you to become more patient, forgiving, and intentional in the relationships you already have. Maybe you’re asking God for a new opportunity while He’s reminding you to finish what you already started.
There’s nothing wrong with believing God for more, but don’t overlook what He has already placed in your hands while waiting for what might come next. Take care of today’s assignment. Love the people God has placed around you. Be faithful with your finances. Use your gifts and serve with a good attitude. Take care of your home, protect your time with God and do the little things well. Sometimes the greatest evidence of spiritual maturity isn’t what we’re asking God to give us. It’s how faithfully we’re caring for what He’s already entrusted us with.
Today I want to encourage you to pay attention to the places in your life that may need repair. Don’t be discouraged if you discover something that has been neglected. God isn’t showing it to you to condemn you. He’s showing it to you because He wants to help you restore it.
Maybe there’s something in your prayer life that needs attention. Maybe there’s a relationship that needs repair. Maybe your priorities have gotten out of order. Maybe you’ve become so busy serving everyone else that you’ve forgotten to spend time with the One you’re serving.
Whatever it is, don’t ignore it. Bring it to God, ask Him for wisdom, be willing to change what needs to change and then take the next step. The beautiful thing about this passage is that the people didn’t have to fix everything in one day. They simply created a way for the work to begin, and little by little, what had been neglected was repaired.
Maybe that’s what you need to hear today. You don’t have to fix everything at once. Start with one thing. One prayer, one conversation, one decision one act of obedience or one area of your life surrendered back to God. God is still in the business of restoring what has been neglected, repairing what has been damaged, and bringing order to what has become disorganized. You don’t have to have it all together before you come to Him. You just have to be willing to let Him show you what needs attention and then trust Him enough to take the next step.
Today’s scripture reading: 2 Kings 12
1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
3 But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
4 And Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord—each man’s census money, each man’s assessment money—and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord,
5 let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”
6 Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple.
7 So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.”
8 And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.
9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord.
10 So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
11 Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord,
12 and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple.
13 However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord.
14 But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it.
15 Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.
16 The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.
Hazael Threatens Jerusalem
17 Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it; then Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.
19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
20 And his servants arose and formed a conspiracy, and killed Joash in the house of the Millo, which goes down to Silla.
21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him. So he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
Journal:
- What area of my life has become neglected that God may be asking me to pay attention to?
- Is there anything I’ve been ignoring because I don’t know how to fix it?
- What process in my life isn’t working the way it should, and what might God be asking me to change?
- What has God already placed in my hands that I need to take better care of?
- Am I asking God for something new while neglecting something He has already entrusted to me?
- What is one practical step I can take this week toward repairing or restoring an area of my life?
