While going through college, I worked for a carpenter in my hometown during summers and other times throughout the year when we had holiday breaks. If you go up in an attic, it’s important to walk on the wooden support beams of the ceiling rather than the ceiling itself so you don’t fall through.

In 2 Kings 1, noted is that the king named Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room. The resulting injury was serious. Instead of going to the ONE true God in prayer about his injury, he had some messengers consult with Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron.

An angel of the Lord told Elijah to meet the messengers in order to relay the message that the king was not consulting the ONE true God … that the king would not get better and would die. When the messenger’s gave a description of the appearance of the man they met, it was obvious that Ahaziah knew it was Elijah.

The king sent a captain with fifty men to Elijah for him to come down from the top of the hill (v.9). This is where God’s power and reality are demonstrated. Fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and the fifty men. So the king sent another captain along with fifty men to Elijah. After fire consumed this captain and fifty men, a third attempt was made.

This time, the captain begged Elijah to not consume them with fire and to come down in order to meet the king. Elijah respected their life and came down, but he still told the truth when he met with the king. The truth being that because he had consulted a false god rather than the true God of Israel, he would never leave the bed he was lying on and would die (v. 16).

The lesson for us is how our attitude toward God and his messengers should be. When faced with difficulty, the ONE true God should be consulted. He is the “rock” who has the power to heal, to give shelter, to give hope, and guarantees a solid path to a bright future. When we walk with God, we are walking on His solid principles for support and will not fall through.

This day with You Lord, we step ahead trusting things will support us but there is only ONE who we can trust to support us. You are our solid support during difficulty in this broken world. You bring recovery and hope. We can stand firm with You, so that whatever we face or whatever the challenge, You provide solid principles to stand on as we step ahead. For it is in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.