Ordained Losses

You may not enjoy reading another post on losses, but the idea behind them is simple. We are not saying that it is okay for believers, the heirs of salvation, to live with losses. Losses are not okay but unless we get God’s perspective on losses, we are likely to become sad and depressed. To avoid such a situation is the reason we stay with the topic. In our last post, we started to talk about losses that God ordained and called them divine losses. After promising to talk of such ordained losses, both great and small, we ran out of space after describing the small ones.

Please remember that the only losses we discuss in these posts are those God ordains. Those are the losses that God blesses and turns to gain since they are all his handiwork. This is the whole point of our series on positive problems. When He ordains a loss, he also turns it into a gain at the end. So, please remember that this series on positive problems is not a recommendation for believers to accept issues regardless.

Like the Apostle Paul, we must pray about every negative situation we find ourselves in. Only after those prayers do not change our situation should we accept it as being from God. Then we embrace it and trust that God is working something better for us. Our next series will consider the other side of the coin because our God is balanced. Just as He is a consuming fire, so is he merciful.

King Amaziah Had Ordained Losses

We now come to the bigger ordained losses, and the first one that springs to mind is King Amaziah. In those days, kings always had wars going on. They were either attacking another nation or they were defending themselves against attacks. The account of King Amaziah in 2 Chronicles does not say anything about anyone attacking him. So, we can assume this king started the war against Edom.

He took stock of his nation’s army and found he had three hundred thousand able-bodied men. For some reason, which the Bible does not state, King Amaziah went ahead and hired one hundred thousand mercenaries. He did not know he was setting himself up for some mighty ordained losses. These soldiers for hire cost him a lot of money, a whole lot. He paid one hundred talents of silver. We understand that that was like 3 ¾ tons of silver.

And the king must have been sitting pretty, confident he would defeat the Edomites. That is, until God sent his prophet to warn him that he would lose the war unless he sent the hired soldiers away. What? The king could not believe his ears because he knew that the bigger your army, the greater your chances of winning. We also know that, and therefore feel justified to collect as much stuff as possible.

Even the bible talks of money being a defense. And yet we see how the king should suffer these ordained losses. If God were to tell us to give some of our stuff away, we would respond like this king. What? As in, “are you out of your mind?”

God Can Reimburse Our Losses

Here is how the king asked his version of that question. “But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?” I can imagine us asking God, how will I recoup the almost four tons of silver I paid? Who will reimburse me? Mercifully, God gave the prophet an instant answer.

And although this was for the king, it applies to us when we suffer ordained losses. The prophet said, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” Don’t you just love the Lord? Any loss we suffer is nothing compared to what God can reimburse us with. When a loss happens, don’t fret, pray. God can tell you like he told David, “Pursue, overtake and recover” or he can let you know the loss is in the category of ordained losses. Either way, you are at peace.

Once you have peace, you are better able to move forward. But when we spend most of our time and prayer rejecting and binding, we might make the loss greater. But if we accept God’s verdict, we can readily pursue other avenues of gain. The choice is up to us to accept God’s verdict or continue to fight it. Nobody can successfully fight God anyway.

As soon as you discover your loss is part of God’s ordained losses, relax, and move forward. Sometimes, the loss might not be material things. You know you can easily replace those. Occasionally, the ordained losses could be of children or a cherished relationship, as in a divorce.

Other Examples Of Ordained Losses

King David lost a child and accepted that loss. You may know the story in 2 Samuel 12.15-23. Find time to read it and you will get an accurate perspective of positive problems, with special reference to ordained losses. The Lord struck David’s child and, as long as the child was alive, David fasted and prayed. But God ordained that the child should die.

As soon as the king heard his child was dead, he got up from fasting, washed himself, and had a meal. Like most of us, his servants could not understand such weird behavior. The king explained it to them. The loss of the child was one of those ordained losses that come to men and women. David knew the child was with God in heaven and made a declaration of faith.

“While the child was alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, ‘Who can tell whether [a]the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” That is a man who was ready for heaven. I pray we may all be ready.

There is one last point since we are speaking of the loss of a child. It is a point we have made several times before. Not all losses are ordained losses. Some are from the devil and that is why we must pray. It is in the place of prayer that God sorts it out for us. David prayed, Paul prayed and so must we. I also pray that we shall not suffer satanic losses, in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen

Maranatha!