One Godly Life

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Josh the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land. 2 Kings 11:2-3

Jehosheba is not one of the women of the bible who gets alot of press. Unless you’ve done a study on bible women outside of the heavy hitters like Sarah or Mary Magdalene, you might have never known she existed. Nonetheless, God had His way in making sure that this woman of faith and her courageous act would not go unnoticed.  Jehosheba is one of my favorite women in the scriptures. There are two reasons why her story continues to inspire me. The first is that her actions made it possible for the Savior to be born through the line of Judah. Joash was the last living heir of the Davidic line and if he had died then David’s (and Judah’s) lineage would have died with him. She showed bravery, and faith and deserves to be honored with the other great women– like Ruth and Rahab–who also made hard choices in order to preserve the Savior’s lineage.

The other reason I love her is that despite having a horrible grandmother (Jezebel) and an even more horrible mother (Athaliah) she herself was a righteous woman of God. So much for generational defeat. Her life was a radical contrast than that of her grandmother and her mother because she recognized the true and living God and embraced Him with all heart. Her story is a powerful testament to the fact that we don’t have to allow the choices our families made shape the type of person we become.

Jehosheba’s story also reminds me of how precious each daughter of God is and how vital she is in God’s work. This woman’s surroundings would make most woman throw up their arms in hopelessness and defeat. She did not have a community of godly courageous women cheering her on. But Jehosheba proves to you and me, that one godly woman can be a mighty influence in the hands of an Almighty God.

Each woman holds the fate of generations in her hands. All it takes is one woman who will choose to make the right choice and follow the Lord and it can change the future for generations upon generations. Unfortunately the opposite is also true, that it only takes one woman who chooses to turn away from the gospel and from the Lord for generations to wander in darkness until another “Jehosheba” emerges and chooses to embrace the light again.

Single women, married women, mothers and grandmothers let’s choose like Jehosheba to live our lives with the courage and conviction of what God can do with one godly life that is commited to Him!