Why must God judge evil?
2 Kings 9:1-37 God’s judgment is a great stumbling block for many Westerners, often even for Christians. How can a loving God judge and condemn people to death, even hell? Although the Old Testament is often singled out for criticism…
The heart and commitment of God
2 Kings 8:7-29 Christian friends of mine struggled with their youngest son from a tender age. While their other children made a commitment to the Lord, their youngest was a trouble child from the start. Rebellious and angry, he would…
God’s mercy in our weakness
2 Kings 8:1-6 During my gap year in Israel, I started having toothache one Friday that got progressively worse. I spent the night tossing and turning as much from the pain as from the worry over paying for treatment (my…
Is God involved in the world?
2 Kings 7:3-20 During my theological studies on an evangelistic placement, a couple of us were chatting with a man who started the conversation saying that he did not believe in God. However, he then recounted strange happenings in his…
The missing piece: How to respond when God is slow to act
2 Kings 6:24-33; 7:1-2 Have you ever wondered why it is that God sometimes fixes a problem in our life quickly and reveals His hand in obvious ways, while we struggle on in other matters waiting for help but without…
The gift of seeing right and how to get it
2 Kings 6:8-23 One time my husband and I were travelling in New Zealand, and we got to a bridge over a deep gully with a river flowing way down underneath. As we came closer, however, we noticed that the…
The kindness of God in the ordinary
2 Kings 6:1-7 One of my students whom I taught at Bible college moved up to Auckland with her family from another part of the country, so she could study and be prepared for future ministry. The move and her…
Two ways to live
2 Kings 5:15-27 During my gap year in Israel, a man who came to faith in our sister hostel in Eilat years before came to visit us. He had no Christian background before his conversion, but his newfound faith in…
Tapping into the transforming power of God
2 Kings 5:6-14 In my late twenties, I was exploring possibilities for full-time ministry, but no door seemed to be opening. At the time, I was reading the Bible with a young woman of my age whom I met at…
God’s hand in our circumstances
2 Kings 5:1-5 It is always fascinating hearing people’s testimonies about how they came to faith because the journeys can be so diverse. God reaches us through as many different ways as there are individuals in this world. A secular…