Brief thought this morning on something I read in 2Chronicles 25.

Who about? Amaziah, king of Judah.

What about? Military ambition. Amaziah’s got an itch to stir things up with the nations around Judah. So, he counts his soldiers. Three hundred thousand “fit young men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.” Good! But, what’s better is four hundred thousand! So, “for 7,500 pounds of silver he hired one hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel” (25:5-6).

Wait a minute. From who? Israel? Once God-fearing now God-flaunting Israel? Israel who made golden calves to worship instead of the God of their deliverance? Israel who, since splitting from Judah, had never had a king who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” but persisted “doing what was evil” as they prostituted themselves with not only the graven images of their own making but also with the gods of the nations? Yeah, that Israel. Hmmm . . .

That’s what God says too.

However, a man of God came to [Amaziah] and said, “King, do not let Israel’s army go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel ​— ​all the Ephraimites. But if you go with them, do it! Be strong for battle! But God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to make one stumble.”

Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?”

The man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.“

So Amaziah released the division that came to Him from Ephraim to go home.

(2Chronicles 25:7-10a CSB)

Two truths about God catch my attention.

First, God can lead us in triumph when we depend on Him, and God can trip us up when we don’t. We can lean on our own power, whether it’s relying on what we have or what we can buy from an unbelieving world, but our plans and self-made provisions are ultimately subject to God’s purposes and His prevailing power. For God has the power to help or to make one stumble.

But it’s the second observation that’s got me thinking this morning. Sometimes, when you’ve headed down a path of your own making; when you’ve invested in a way that seems prudent according to your own thinking; when that happens and God, in His kindness, says, “Uh, uh”; then, you need to be prepared to write it off.

How often do we try to salvage something of our less-than-wise decisions? How prone are we to try and recoup something from bad investments we’ve made with our treasure, or our time, or our talents? Instead, we need to let it go. See it as a sunk cost. In repenting of our wayward ways, sometimes we’ll just need to write it off. And that, as an act of faith. Counting all things that we might have once held dear, and invested much in, as loss because we believe that the LORD is able to give you much more than this. (Paul knew what it was to write it off. Check out Philippians 3:7-8.)

Something I read in Psalm 147 kind of punctuates this lesson to be learned.

He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
He does not value the power of a warrior.
The Lord values those who fear Him,
those who put their hope in His faithful love.

(Psalms 147:10-11 CSB)

Yeah, our mistakes may cost us. But He is able to give us much more than we lose. For our God has purposed to invest in those who fear Him, in those who put their trust in His faithful love. So, write it off!

By His grace. For His glory.