What could have been

“What could have been” is a too familiar phrase in conversation. The phrase is used of athletes who are injured before reaching their prime, singers who develop polyps on their vocal chords, or youth who entangle their lives in foolishness. Promising personalities litter the pathways leading to recognition and accomplishment because of a small flaw left untended. “What could have been” can be applied to Josiah whose biography is found in 2 Chronicles 34-35.

Josiah was only eight years-old when he became king of Judah. As a sixteen year-old he began to seriously seek God and started a nationwide reform movement. Full of courage and youthful idealism, Josiah smashed the altars of the gods of lewdness and perversion allowed by his grandfather, Manasseh, and father, Amon.

When Josiah turned twenty-six, his administration initiated a massive temple rebuilding project. While the renovation project proceeded, the Book of the Law was discovered somewhere in the Temple compound and was read to the still young king, Josiah’s heart was stirred and the king demonstrated the broken and contrite spirit who his ancestor David said would never be denied. (Psalm 51) Huldah the prophetess was called to Jerusalem where she delivered God’s promise, “Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD. Now I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace.”

Josiah’s fatal flaw, literally, was a response to feelings of self-satisfaction and stubbornness. Josiah was euphoric! The people had responded to his appeals for offerings and temple renovations were completed without a mortgage. The Passover was a national success and Israeli citizens were content. So, emboldened by his achievements, Josiah butted into a war in which he didn’t need to be involved. Neco, the king of Egypt tried his best to dissuade Josiah, but forty-nine-year-old was on a roll! He would fight because he wanted to fight. Was winning a war, in Josiah’s reasoning, a way to expand his influence? We’ll never know “what could have been.” Josiah was killed in a battle he didn’t need to fight.

A faithful mentor repeatedly reminded me, and I remember years after his death. “We are driven toward the Lord in failure and struggles, but are lured away when we are feeling successful.” In other words, success is harder to deal with than failure. “What could have been” moments are most frequently rooted in personal flaws which render us careless, undisciplined, vulnerable. Josiah had probably forgotten sage counsel of his forefather Solomon, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)