Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger. 2 Kings 23:26

The previous verse noted how Josiah was unlike any other king before or after him. The next verse, however, comes like a thud. All the work that Josiah had done to rid the land of idols, spiritists, mediums, Asherah poles, and anything that did not honor God was for naught? Absolutely NOT.

How often do we find ourselves in similar situations? We’ve done everything we know to do the Godly thing. We’ve gone the extra miles several times just to be sure we got it right. Then it happens: something occurs to make it seem like it’s all wasted.

A missionary had translated the Bible and was getting ready to have it published (back before computers existed). It was in paper form. A fire swept through the building he had translated it in. All evidence of the newly translated Bible was burned, destroyed. The missionary mourned its loss and began translating the Bible once again the next day. Yes, it was tragic that all his work was burned up in a fire, but the next time around the translation would only take a fraction of the time it took when he originally translated it because he had already done the difficult initial work of learning the phrases and testing it among the people.

Perhaps you’re feeling that all the work you’re doing or have done is in vain. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, very little in this world encourages you to be satisfied with what you’ve done. Even as I write these devotionals, I run the risk of encouraging you not to be satisfied with the status quo and to change if necessary. My intention is not to discourage you; in fact, it’s just the opposite.

Keep doing the things that got you this far and cast off those things that distract you. Draw close to God and He will draw close to you (James 4:8).