READ: 2 Kings 9-10
THINK: On August 17, 2009 I pushed a U-Haul to it’s absolute physical limits on the way to pick up a couch, a love seat, and 2 recliners from HOM Furniture in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Jenny and I had gone to U-Haul rental place and I had just paid for it when she whispered into my ear, “Hey, I think my water just broke.” I processed this statement, looked at my 9-months pregnant wife, and said, “Well, I already paid. I might as well pick up the furniture now. You go home and get everything ready. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” It was a find moment of husbanding to be sure. Jenny was actually really calm and not having contractions yet, but nonetheless I was determined to make the trip as quickly as I could.
I probably don’t need to tell you this, but U-Hauls aren’t fast. I’m guessing that the one I had went 0-60 in 18.5 seconds. But I floored it to the furniture store, got everything loaded quickly, floored it home, and floored it back to the U-Haul rental place. Then I hopped into my mighty Ford Taurus with Jenny and drove like a crazy person to her doctor 30 minutes away in White Bear Lake. It was my first kid, I didn’t know what should or shouldn’t be happening. The water breaking made me nervous. I was absolutely getting her to the doctor as quickly as possible. Nothing was going to stop me. I was trying to drive safely but speedily. Jenny felt like I was erring on the side of speedily. I almost couldn’t help it. In my mind I was Jeff Gordon because I was on a mission! Then she told me, “You’re driving like a crazy person. Slow down. I’m fine!” So I did.
In 2 Kings 9, Jehu is on a mission. God has had enough of the Baal worship and the idolatry or Ahab, Jezebel, and all of their friends and family. He had Jehu appointed king, and told him to completely wipe out the evil house of Ahab. Jehu understood very clearly that he had a mission from God. He knew what it was that God had called him to do, and he set about making sure that it happened. He pursued it with such passion and determination that when Joram’s lookouts saw him coming they said, “It’s Jehu’s chariot and he is driving like a maniac!” Jehu was coming hard and fast to get the job done. Nothing in this world was going to stop or distract him. The Hebrew word there literally means “madness.” Jehu was furious and unyielding in his pursuit of his calling.
What would it look like it we all pursued God’s calling on our lives the way the Jehu did? So often we get distracted. So often we pursue God half-heartedly. So often we ignore the things we know he’s called us to in order to chase after the desires of our own hearts instead. We live in the midst of a dark and broken world where so many people are lost and hurting and desperately in need of the hope we have. And God has given us a mission to bring it to them! Nothing is more important than that. Nothing is more critical than carrying out the mission God has given us. Nothing matters more to our world. So the question that all of us need to ask ourselves is this: what will it take for us to capture the spirit of Jehu and decide that we are going to pursue our mission from God with a furious, maniacal, unyielding, madness that refuses to be distracted or stop for anything else?
PRAY: Ask God to help you clearly see the specific mission that he has for you – the role he designed you to play in the building of his kingdom and the spreading of the gospel. Then pray for the unshakable courage and vision to pursue that mission with everything you’ve got.
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