The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?”

1 Kings 22:18

For Meditation

You did not hear what you wanted to hear, but was it the truth?

I once developed an exciting project for my company, for which I needed funding. I sought a soft loan from one of my customers I had grown and come to know as a remarkably successful business executive. Why I went to him, I still cannot understand. But I did, and you guessed right. His simple advice to me? Convert the unused physical assets littered around my company’s premises to liquid capital to meet my current need. Not what I wanted to hear, but it was the truth. I left him that day in the same condition as the rich young ruler walked away from Jesus—sad (Matthew 19:21). 

Ahab was a king who feared the truth. False prophets surrounded him, even when they needed counsel before going to war against Ramoth Gilead. King Jehoshaphat demanded if there wasn’t a true prophet of God in Israel. All those favorable prophesies from the false prophets did not sit well with him.

“There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah, son of Imlah,” Ahab said(1 Kings 22:8).

The fear of the truth! It causes people to turn away from good counsel. Many leaders heap around them, people who always tell them what they want to hear. True prophets like Jeremiah have suffered beatings and prisons for telling the truth from God. As it was in those days, so it is now. It happens everywhere—in politics, civil society, government, and shamefully, in the church. The result is the chaos we are witnessing in our national capitals today.

So, I want to leave you with this question. You did not hear what you wanted to hear, but was it the truth? What then are you going to do with it? Ahab missed the opportunity to save his life when Micaiah told them the truth. You could save yours by elevating truth over falsehood.