Kings and Chronicles - Who Really Writes the History

Over the years I have had a privilege of receiving quite a few official announcements about certain personnel changes delivered in a typical bureaucratic cadence accompanied with the usual politically correct verbiage. Sometimes I am a privy into what is really going on behind the scenes, and sometimes I can only scratch my head. Since I am fully aware that curiosity killed many a cat, I generally don't seek out undisclosed information knowing I am better off remaining ignorant on certain matters, especially when I can rest in the fact that God knows and He is never fooled by 'official announcements'. And I never cared for publicly humiliating anybody, no matter how well deserved it might be. Tabloids are full of such stories, and none of us is more noble or loving for reading them

I must start with a disclaimer here, for there is much more to both Kings and Chronicles than what I share here. I give credit to all four books for playing a major part in my freshly aroused love of history. When accompanied with reading the prophets, one gets to enjoy quite a geo-political-religious-psychological feast that gets to be very personal at times... But, I also understand that not everyone shares my weird taste for this form of spiritual nourishment...

Back to the opening paragraph and official records... The Books of Kings and Chronicles remind me a lot of such 'official' and 'unofficial' versions of the same events. The former describes the condensed version of 'government approved record' of historic events. The latter gives us a peek into what God, who reads our innermost thoughts and intentions of our hearts like an open book, knows is going on behind closed doors. It's like reading a column in Wall Street Journal and a personal diary of the main character that the column writes about side by side... Don't you ever wonder about the stories behind the news clips or am I the only one?

I used to be terrified of such knowledge, such exposure. I would bristle when others would quote that character is who you are when no one is looking. I was appalled at the discrepancy a visible presence of just one person makes in how I conduct my life. And it was perplexing that God's presence, even though invisible yet equally real, didn't seem to affect much change.

Today, for some reason, awareness of such intimate knowledge is an incredible source of comfort and hope. I can release my grip on demand for justice and fairness into His perfectly capable hands. I can rest in His timing. For God is a meticulous book-keeper. The insufferable wrongs will be fully and completely righted. Moreover, the Scripture says that not even a glass of water goes unnoticed by Him when given out of love and reverence for Jesus Christ. Regardless of whether anybody else sees it or not.