FREE PARENTING TIP: Don't read this
story to your kids at bedtime. It's hard to
believe that I never heard this story in
Sunday school, no VBS puppet shows about
Athaliah the murdering grandmother, no
Veggie Tales tunes that say "Respect your
elders, unless their name is Athaliah."

Second Kings 11 tells a deeply disturbing
story that is difficult to stomach. Ahaziah, the
wicked king of Judah, has been murdered. To
prevent any of his sons from inheriting the
throne, Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, has all of
the royal princes put to death. This opens the
door for her to claim the crown for herself.

But through the twisted treachery of this
story, a seed of hope begins to break
through. In the chaos and confusion of
Athaliah's killing spree, her sister Jehosheba
rescued one of the children, an infant prince
Joash. With the help of a priest named
Jehoiada, she hid him away and kept him
safe for six years. Then, at just the right
moment, they called together the loyal
commanders of the kingdom and revealed
to them the impossible truth: Their rightful
king was alive. They showed them Joash.

Sometimes hope is like that. It is hidden.
You wait for it. You long to see it. But your
heart tells you it is dead. Then, one day, the
door swings open, and there it stands.

Matt LeRoy

Don't give up on hidden hope.