The woman asked, "Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. For we will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.
2 Samuel 14:13–14 (HCSB)
There is an example of this very thing in this same chapter. Amnon, one of David’s sons, raped Tamar, one of David’s daughters. Absalom, David’s son, took revenge and killed Amnon. Absalom fled and remained in one of the cities of refuge for three years. He was allowed to return to Jerusalem, but not allowed into David’s presence. After two years of this “house arrest” Absalom wanted to see his father. He sent for Joab, David’s friend, in order to send him as an emissary to plead Absalom’s case before the king—but Joab wouldn’t come to him. Absalom sent for Joab a second time, but still he would not come. Then he resorted to a desperate act, he set Joab’s barley field on fire. Joab came now, but furious: “Why have you done this?”
Absalom explained his actions: “I called for you once, and you wouldn’t respond. I sent for you a second time, but still you ignored me. I had to do something to get your attention. That is why I did this thing.”
What Absalom did was wrong. He was a wicked, conniving, self-centered young man. But what Absalom did is an example of the way God sometimes deals with us, but with a gracious intent. We wander from God. He calls to us, but we ignore His overtures. He patiently calls to us again, but once more we turn a deaf ear to His wooing. So God says, “I love you to much to let you continue ignoring Me,” and He does something to get our attention—He sets our barely field on fire. This He does, not to take away our lives, but order to get our attention and restore our lives to Him. He devises plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished. This thing He does may hurt us, but it does not destroy us. In fact, it actually blesses us because it returns us to fellowship with Him.
Has God set your barley field on fire? If so, may you say: “I’ve wandered far away from God, but now I’m coming home.”
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