Ending well?

Over the weekend I was reading about King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17-20) and impressed by his early years as king.  We read in vs 17:6 “He was deeply committed to the ways of the LORD.”  Later on in his reign he was terrified as several armies were about to attack, and again he looked to the Lord for guidance.  After assessing the situation he said “We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us.  We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”  (vs. 20:12)  His twenty-five year reign was certainly not perfect but he was considered a “good king” following the ways of his father King Asa and doing what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight.  Unfortunately the last thing we read about him is when he made an alliance with King Ahaziah who was considered very wicked. They built a fleet of trading ships, but because that bad alliance, the Lord blocked their plans “So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.” (vs. 20:37)  What a sad final report on his life!

I found that to be another excellent reminder of the importance of not becoming too self-confident or proud after we have been blessed by a hand full of successes and believe that we can handle situations on our own.  I am afraid that as we get more years behind us it is easy to forget to continually seek the Lord’s guidance in all of our decisions.

I have been pleased by the way so many details are “falling into place” for my move.  I certainly am seeing the Lord answering prayer!  Thanks to each of you who are praying!  I am thankful for the tremendous improvement with my back pain.  While it is not completely gone, I am able to do some serious sorting/discarding and will be able to start packing soon.  I understand that the painting in Florida should be wrapping up in a couple of days so then it will mainly be counter tops, vanities and floor coverings which will not take long to install when they arrive.  While no date has been set, I anticipate settling in on that end by August.  I will be mailing out moving specifics with date, new address and phone number prior to the move.

Love to you all,

Chuck