Who Do You Turn to

Who Do You Turn to

Bible: 2 Kings 1:1-8 ; 13-17

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (EXODUS 34:14).

Who do you call first when you’re in trouble?

King Ahaziah of Israel had fallen from the rooftop of his house. Injured and worried, his first call was to Baal-Zebub, the fake god of a nearby city. He wanted to know if he would get better. But God told Elijah what was going on and wanted him to ask the king a question: why was Ahaziah talking to Baal-Zebub, instead of the God of Israel? (VV.3-4). For doing that, Elijah said, Ahaziah would never get out of bed alive (V.6).

What does this intense story show us about who our God is? Because Jesus has brought Christians back to God through the cross (EPH. 2:13-18), those who’ve trusted in Jesus need not fear God’s judgement. Yet this story points to the reality of our need for Him, and how wrong it is to place our trust in anything else.

Today, we might not be likely to ask for help from a fake god, but sometimes we act as if we’ve got it all together, like we’re our own god. Or we place our trust in our friends, our school marks, our parents or good luck charms. But God wants us to put our trust in Him. He promises to be our help in times of trouble (PS. 46:1).

Thinking it Over…

Who do you turn to first when things are hard? When do you turn to God? What would it look like for prayer to always be your instinctive reaction to problems?

WE’VE NOT GOT IT ALL TOGETHER—WE NEED GOD!

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries