Dear Father,

When I was younger, we were told the story of Joash repeatedly, and his story was also a popular question in Bible competitions. The Scripture says, “Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem.” This was all I knew: Joash was seven, and he was king. How? I had so many questions and made so many comparisons. I was older than Joash, and the best I had done was win Bible competitions.

However, we weren’t told the entire story. I learned about his achievements, not his failures--about how he was king, not how he failed as one. I have nothing against Joash, Father, but see how strangely a man’s story is told, not in its entirety? Then we are immersed in the knowledge of a man’s successes, confused as to why we are not without failures.

The fall of Joash was, in large way, related to his applause--a child who leads. One of the most invaluable parts of a man’s success is the struggles and risks attached to it. There are struggles that pertain to a field of success, and there are peculiar struggles that apply to individuals. Joash was a victim of the former.

This is a case of responsibility without maturity, particularly in situations where people are made to lead while ignorant of which way to go. I see how this pattern repeats itself across different spheres and levels of life. And more troubling still is how great achievements can blind a man to his own faults, until the very thing that lifted him becomes the ground of his fall.

Translations;
Slide 1: English
Slide 2: French
Slide 3: Bengali
Slide 4: Hindu
Slide 5: Urdu

#LettertoGod
#maturity
#responsibility