Josiah was eight years old when he became king,And he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD
And walked in the ways of his father David,
Not turning aside to the right or to the left.
2 Chronicles 34:1-2, NIV
All too often responsibility falls upon the shoulders of those much too young to carry it. Such was the case with an eight-year-old boy whose name was Josiah. He became king at that young age due to tragedy – the assassination of his father. But this tragedy in his young life became a triumph for an entire nation of people.
When loss comes our way and responsibility is heaped upon us at a young age, there are choices to make. We can bend to the status quo and leave things as they are, or we can strive to be different seeking a better outcome than those before us. We can choose God and His ways in order to rise above the environment surrounding us.
That is what Josiah did. When he was sixteen, he began to seek the God of King David. Then when he was twenty, he began to tear down and get rid of the idols and pagan images in the land – those things that were not pleasing to God and were leading the people astray. But it wasn’t until he was twenty-six that the word of God was found in the temple, and that is when he read the covenant of the LORD to the people in the presence of God for the first time – “to follow the LORD and keep His commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in His word.” His life and the lives of the nation of people were changed as they encountered the LORD and His word.
All of this occurred because a young man knew deep in his heart that the way they were living and the environment around him was not right. He wanted to be different. He wanted to rise above the circumstances. He didn’t accept things as they were but chose to make a difference seeking God’s way instead of man’s way. So, he purged the land of all that was not of God.
Wow! What an amazing story showing us that tragedy, loss, and age are not a barrier to being the person God wants us to be. The impact we can have on others is directly related to choices. You, too, can choose to seek the LORD in your time of tragedy and loss. You can choose to rise above the circumstances. You can choose to use the circumstances in your life to make a difference in the lives of those around you as you choose to follow God’s way rather than the way things have been. Choose Christ. He is the only way to the Father, and the only way to heal a broken heart.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6 (ESV)