Bad Choices have bad consequences - 2 Chronicles 25-28

As we read this story of King Amaziah, king of Judah, we have a number of lessons that are not only pratical for today, but essential for every era. This 700 B.C. story gives us an understanding of leadershp, followership and the way God's principles work in our lives. One suce example we should learn from is the story we read in chapter 25. Amaziah counted his army and found he was lacking in the number of troops. Solomon had earlier warned in his writings to make plans with wise counsel so that is what Amaziah did. So, AFTER hiriing extra warriors he consulted with a "man of God." The "man of God" told him that he was to let the "hired guns" go and to trust God. As a result of his decision to hire troops from Israel Amaziah and the people of Judah suffered a number of consequences: The first was that they lost the money they paid those troops. Another consequence was that these troops were fired up and ready to fight and since Amaziah sent them home without a battle they took their anger out on Judah. While Amaziah was fighting his original enemy the hired warriors from Israel went out and killed and pillaged his people. God might give us the ability to repent when we hear the word of God from the man of God but that doesn't mean we will escape without consequences. God has the ability to help or to bring down (25:8), but, the consequences of our decisions are still lingering well after our repentance. God does not always prevent those consequences from stopping. Amaziah lost 3,000 brothers and sisters that day because he decided to make a decison before he sought counsel. It would be wise for us to learn this lesson from Amaziah and the troops from Israel. Don't spend your money and find out it only results in your own life being pillaged.