This chapter starts off confirming that Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord!\u00a0 Amaziah had, in good faith, hired soldiers out of Israel to help him fight a war but then a\u00a0man of God<\/em>\u00a0came to Amaziah and warned him against using these soldiers.\u00a0 Hmm!\u00a0 Amaziah was in a pickle!\u00a0 He had already hired these men!\u00a0 What would he do with them now?<\/p>\n I would hope that everyone reading this devotional is also seeking to do right in the sight of the Lord.\u00a0 However, we all make poor decisions at times!\u00a0 Should we beat ourselves up?\u00a0 Lament that we have wasted time, money, or materials?\u00a0 Do we want to just finish the task or, like Amaziah, listen to good counsel?<\/p>\n Years ago, we stepped into a “Pyramid” business and were actually doing quite well!\u00a0 Some months later, we drove several hours away to be in a regional meeting–it was really more of a pep rally to get people excited and testimonies from others who were making lots of money.\u00a0 We expected to do well, retire early with a new car and a beautiful house.\u00a0 We planned to travel and visit missionaries!<\/p>\n We were not expecting what we walked into, however!\u00a0 Extremely loud, high-energy music played throughout the session!\u00a0 It was designed to pump people up and it did–except for us!\u00a0 This was NOT the kind of music we approved of and we just had a sick feeling in the pit of our stomachs!\u00a0 How could we recruit others into the business and lead them into this ungodly arena?\u00a0 We had not invested a lot of money but enough to make it hurt!\u00a0 Still, we knew this was not God’s will for us and left after the morning session.\u00a0 We had to cut our losses and move on!\u00a0 God blessed us for this decision in other ways!<\/p>\n Another time, I was motivated to make some items and start working the craft fair circuit!\u00a0 I worked night and day getting my merchandise made!\u00a0 It seemed like a sure thing!\u00a0 Well, our first craft show was after a devastating hurricane.\u00a0 People just wanted to get out but had no money!<\/p>\n The second show was near the end of the Fall season and brought torrential rains!\u00a0 Fortunately, the show was able to be moved into a warehouse.\u00a0 Our assigned booth was in a dark, grungy corner!\u00a0 It was creepy!\u00a0 We were able to move to another spot but we were still out of the main traffic pattern.\u00a0 There had been a substantial investment of time, money, AND materials but, then we learned that many of the Spring shows included Sundays and we took a strong stand against that.<\/p>\n Again, we had made a poor decision and just had to cut our loses.\u00a0 At the time, we didn’t see God rewarding us in a monetary way but it brought peace to our hearts.\u00a0 Later on, I was able to share our merchandise with others and be a blessing to them!\u00a0 The joy it brought to them was much better!<\/p>\n We’ve had other instances of having to cut our losses, whether it was a vehicle purchase, planning a special, group adventure with others backing out,\u00a0 or, just buying something we found out we didn’t need or couldn’t use!\u00a0 But, were these really “losses” or would there have been consequences?<\/p>\n Can you just hear Amaziah’s “Minister of War” arguing with him over the damage he was creating by backing out on his commitment?\u00a0 He could have saved face and used these soldiers to join them in the battle.\u00a0 Even the man of God said he could do what he wanted BUT….he would also suffer the consequences from his decision.<\/p>\n Freedom and peace of mind can bring much more happiness than things that we are afraid to let go of.\u00a0 God blessed Amaziah for his decision.\u00a0 Though we may feel like we are making a big mistake, letting go of something that has us chained, opens the door for God to bless us for our obedience. Another case in point:\u00a0 How about that last $20 in your wallet?\u00a0 Could you let go of it when a special need is announced at your church?\u00a0 How often have we heard how God has blessed those in this type of situation!\u00a0 Just last week, a widow woman in our church, who lives on very little, received news that her sister had just passed away in another state.\u00a0 All I had was a $20 bill with me. \u00a0It wasn’t much but I knew she would have lots of expenses, even buying a meal on the way there.\u00a0 Immediately, God allowed me to sell an un-needed item that I had posted several months ago on our local buy and sell website!\u00a0 I had forgotten it was even on there and made much more on that item than what I had given this sweet lady!<\/p>\n Are we willing to cut our losses to be in God’s will?\u00a0 To quit pouring money into a bad deal?\u00a0 When we look at the full picture, isn’t sacrificing what we have already done or invested in a much better decision. \u00a0 Never be afraid to cut your losses and move on when God has convicted your heart that it was a poor decision.\u00a0 If we follow His conviction, He will always give us what is best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" II Chronicles 25:1-12 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1214,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions\/1214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/foggy-tree-vert10469-LQ-scaled.jpeg\")
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