The First Domino

2 Chronicles 12:6

“The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”

When I was a kid we used to line up a bunch of dominos in crazy patterns and then tip the first domino over and watch a chain reaction happen that would knock down all of the other dominos until every domino was down, then we would set it up again.  A couple of days ago I copied God’s recipe for living under a Christian banner.  Here it is for reference. 

1st.  Humble yourselves before the Lord

2nd. Pray

3rd.  Seek the lord

4th.  Turn from your wicked ways.

The result of these four steps is that the Lord will come and heal your land and give you peace.

The list is simple and comes straight from God himself speaking to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14.  The last step in this process is the only one people see.  You see, we often seek advice or guidance, and maybe some criticism about our actions. That is why we are always quick to attempt to do the fourth step first.  Turn from our ways whether or not we see them as wicked. In God’s way of doing things, this should be the last step not the first.  Rehoboam was a wicked king for Judah and the Lord was going to give them over to the Egyptians. Then we read verse 6 above.  The leaders humbled themselves and then the Lord, seeing this, did not destroy them with the hand of the Egyptians.  Chapter 12 goes on to tell us that as long as Rehoboam humbled himself before the Lord there was peace. 

Maybe today you have been so caught up in trying to fix the issues of your life and watching all your efforts seem to never be enough.  Could it be that you have the recipe backwards?  Have you been focused on the fourth step of God’s plan and forgetting about the first three?  It was not until the leaders and king humbled themselves before the Lord that the Lord showed up and peace came to Judah.  Today, try to make an effort to humble yourself before the Lord first, pray, seek the Lord with all of your heart, and let the result of the four steps take care of itself.  If you find yourself frustrated and fed up with God because you see nothing changing in your life, then you might want to review the steps above.  Just maybe you have been working the list backwards wanting all the peace that the Lord promises without humbling yourself, praying, seeking the Lord, and turning from your wicked ways first.