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Helping Your Friend Find Strength in God Part 6

You don’t have to be a close friend to a person find strength in God. You just have to know there is a need. If you are in a position to assist rectify an unfair situation, do so.

What made Ebedmelech so memorable. He crossed racial and class lines. He was a black man, a Cushite. Jeremiah was a Jew. Ebedmelech was a court official. Jeremiah was a despised prophet and a prisoner. Ebedmelech shows us another way to help a fellow human being find strength in God.

1. Intercede for your friend with those in charge
Why stop in the middle if you can go straight to the top. Ebedmelech didn’t waste time with the lower court officials. He went straight to the King. While he was not of equal rank with the king he had the king’s ear. He didn’t think of himself. He imperiled himself. It did seem to enter his mind that if the king was mad at Jeremiah, he might get mad at him for asking that he do something for Jeremiah,”

2. Present a clear cogent argument for doing the right thing.
Ebedmelech did not attack the King’s judgment or say insulting things about the ones who had Jeremiah cast into prison. He spoke to the fact that these men’s actions were wrong. He explained the fact that living in the dungeon surely would doom Jeremiah to a death by hunger. There wasn't much food and because of the crisis in the city a prisoner might be the last to be fed. Plus the dungeon was cold and Jeremiah was literally mired in a standing position in the mud.

3. Let the King, manager, or supervisor present a solution.
Usually the person in charge is there because they have been able to be reasonable and can judge situations pretty well. Every now and then they get caught in situations without thinking through about the consequences. You may be giving that person a clean way to get out of a dilemma. Trust God to change a person’s heart. After all the word states in Proverbs that the Lord turns a king’s heart like a watercourse.

Ebedmelech’s intercession caused the king to order Jeremiah’s release from prison and an almost certain slow death. He helped Jeremiah find strength in God and also preserved his life

Note
Ebedmelech had no idea that his intercession for someone else would eventually bring a blessing to himself. Jeremiah 39:15 While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him: 16 "Go and tell Ebedmelech the Cushite, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18 I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.' "
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