Joel M Bradshaw

17Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.–2 Chronicles 24

1. King Joash’s God-honoring mentor and father figure had just died.
2. And Joash began to receive counsel from other people with selfish agendas.
3. Joash thus abandoned God and pursued idolatry.
4. God sent prophets to preach repentance, but Joash was stubborn.
5. In a stressful season of my life, I lost both my pastoral mentor and also my father. For the first time, I was completely without their guidance.
6. And yet, it was during these years that God planted within me the desire to pursue biblical counseling, which required me to dive deeper into the Bible and journey with new mentors.
7. Joash was vulnerable, but pursued the things of this world and abandoned God. I am grateful that in my time of vulnerability, God grabbed ahold of me and led me down a different path.–JMB