When it comes to our walk with the Lord, we all want to be perfect, but none of us are. We are sinners and at times we disobey God. Sometimes we disobey him in small ways, and there are other times when our sins are so great that they may result in lasting earthly consequences; consequences that even God may have ordered himself. If you’ve sinned and have wronged God so badly that he has decided to take action against you, I encourage you to do what Ahab did and humble yourself before him. First Kings, chapter 21, verses 27 through 29 says:
“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: ‘Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.’”
Ahab committed a great evil in the sight of the Lord. His wife encouraged him to have an innocent man killed just so that he could take possession of his vineyard. Verses 25 and 26 says, “(There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)" All of this and the Lord still extended grace. We should never stir God to this level of anger. But if you ever do, remember this story. Humble yourself, fast and repent. Then the Lord may have mercy on you and withhold the level of judgment he had originally carved out for you.
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Because of the magnitude of Ahab’s transgression, God was about to bring disaster upon him. God didn’t relent completely. His judgment passed along to Ahab’s son. But his grace allowed for it not to happen in Ahab’s lifetime. God acknowledged his repentance and stayed his hand. So remember, true repentance and humility goes a long way with God. Even if you’ve done something incredibly bad, he can still offer grace to you. But it is my hope that for you and for me, it’ll never come to that. If you don’t know already, I encourage you to learn what God likes and what he doesn’t like, and to pursue for former and avoid the later.