I don’t remember reading about Jehosheba ever. I may have but I never paid attention. As I read about her for this challenge, I was wowed at what a woman she was indeed. Even though she wasn’t talked about so much and is just mentioned within two verses of the scripture, she played a major role in biblical history.

For those who don’t know her, she was the brave Aunt slash Princess whose action preserved a lineage from being wiped off the surface of the earth.

Now, when the King’s mother – Athaliah – at this time, who happened to be the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel heard that her son the King was dead, she decided to kill all the members of the royal family. For God’s sake, these are her family members. Some of whom were her grandchildren. Jehosheba on the other hand, kidnapped Joash the baby prince from the palace nursery and took him to the temple where he was hid. Through her heroic act, the royal lineage of David was preserved from extinction.

Lessons to learn from Jehosheba are numerous and we’ll look at some as we pray.

PRAYERS

From the story in scriptures, Jehosheba was the daughter of King Jehoram and not the daughter of Athaliah. So this meant the late King Ahaziah was her half brother. However, in the face of great evil, she looked beyond what type of relationship existed and saved Joash the son of Ahaziah. She could have as well left him there but beyond being his Aunt, she was a believer. By the fact that she was married to the High Priest, we can deduce that she knew the Lord, served Him and obeyed Him even though she was from a home where evil was done. I have imagined all the preparations she must have put in place to make this kidnap mission a reality without getting caught.

1. Father, in this world where evil prevails, I choose today to serve and obey you. Even if I am the only one in my family, in my place of work or in my community, I commit to you dear Lord that I will stand steadfast by your help and grace in Jesus name.

2. Lord, when the opportunity comes to be a light in a very dark and unassuming world; and I have to make decisions or plans towards a risky endeavour, I ask for your grace to act with complete faith and trust in you.

Like I said, I know preparations must have been made on how to kidnap baby Joash from the palace nursery. So this means, people were involved and these people were trusted to not compromise. If you and I happen to find ourselves in this situation, can we be a trusted team member? Or even more, do we have such kind of trusted people in our circle?

3. Lord, I surround myself with people who I can entrust sensitive and delicate tasks to. I also request Lord that when sensitive and delicate tasks are entrusted to me, I will be able to carry them out and deliver flawlessly in Jesus Name.

Athaliah was an offspring of evil parents and evil herself. She didn’t care about anyone but herself and she didn’t care if she killed her own blood. Whatever drove her to massacre the royal family was born out of sheer wickedness and evil.

4. Lord, take an x-ray of my heart and show me any trace of evil or wickedness hiding somewhere waiting for an opportunity to come to light. Wherever I have unknowingly harboured and nursed evil thoughts, I ask that you perform a thorough scrubbing of my heart. I refuse to be a tool of evil and wickedness in Jesus Name.

I want to believe, Jehosheba wasn’t the only woman with a heart there. However the presence of God in a man’s heart can’t make one keep calm and allow evil prevail. Jehosheba preserved the lineage from which Jesus came from because she couldn’t watch evil take center stage. If you are comfortable when evil thrives, then something is amiss.

5. Lord, put a discomfort in me when evil prevails that I will not sit quietly and watch when there is an opportunity for me to do something. Put within me a zero tolerance for evil and wickedness and create opportunities for me to shine the light of Christ by the actions I take.