Josiah brought balance back to God’s people. In the 8th year of his rule, when he was a teen, he sought the God of his ancestor David. He purified Judah and Jerusalem of idols and images, he tore down altars to the Baals, and he burned the bones of their priests. He was on fire for the Lord!
In the 18th year of his rule, he ensured that money from the temple was collected and paid to repair and restore God’s temple. As the money was being brought out of the temple, the priest found the Instruction Scroll given by the Lord through Moses. When it was read aloud, Josiah ripped his clothes in anguish because his ancestors had failed to obey the Lord’s words and commandments. Josiah must have deeply felt the loss of what God’s people should have been.
My favorite part of this story comes next: after consulting with the prophetess Huldah, he gathered all of the people of Judah and Jerusalem and read aloud the scroll’s words, and together they all made a covenant to follow the Lord with all of their hearts and beings. For as long as Josiah lived, they did not turn away from following the Lord, and, for a time, balance was restored to God’s people.
When I was 27 weeks pregnant with my second son, Theo, my water broke unexpectedly. For the next 5 weeks, I was on hospital bedrest while my husband, Nate, cared for our toddler and prepared our beloved Seattle house for sale. It took us some time to settle on “Theodore” as a first name, but we quickly agreed on “Josiah” for his middle name. Not only is Josiah’s story inspiring, the name’s meaning, “fire of the Lord,” nicely reflected Theo’s apparent eagerness to enter the world. We sometimes call him our fiery gift of God.
Theo will be 18 next summer, and our family is rediscovering balance. Since September, Theo has been in MEND, an intensive outpatient therapy program in Loma Linda. MEND supports patients with medical issues and their families in maintaining or regaining emotional health and balance. Two or three times a week, Theo and a handful of peers meet with a therapist, and then all of the teens, their families, and the therapist come together as a group. As our kids learn to establish physical, emotional, spiritual, and relational balance in their lives and as we learn how to let go AND how best to support them, we watch them blossom and gain confidence. We are all learning to share our feelings, to listen better, and to be fully present. We face hard truths and we reconnect and become stronger family units. Like Josiah and the people of Judah, we are changing patterns, reconnecting, and bringing balance back into our lives.
We all can follow Josiah’s example. When we experience or even rediscover something that restores balance and connection to ourselves, to our community, and to God, we can be the people that God intended us to be.
Mandy Sutter first attended La Sierra University Church as a Tiny Tot. She is married to Nate and is the proud mom of Zack and Theo. She works for Loma Linda University Health’s Information Services and is an avid knitter.