“What Went Wrong?”

2Chron 24 Nations rise and fall; so do leaders. Jehoiada was a faithful priest who rose up to lead at a time when a wicked queen sought to take the nation away from God. He was not only faithful in that but he sought to protect the young king and raise him in a godly way.

“Joash did what the Lord approved throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.” But when Jehoiada died so did Joash’s mentor, and without his leadership he was swayed by the officials of Judah to sin. It was only by God’s grace that Jehoiada never saw that outcome.

So what can we learn from this story? Some children raised under a godly parent/tutor still go astray. We don’t have the reasons why this happens, but we can learn what to do now. Parents must test children to see if they will obey.

Did Jehoiada keep such a tight rein on the young Joash that he never was tested to discern good from evil? We must allow our children to pass and fail while they are under our roof so that when they enter the world they can stand strong against the ways of evil. We do that with our children by following Deut 6; teach them as they walk, sit and stand. Allow them to make decisions that even though you know the outcomes you can use them as teachable moments.