by Tommy Peeler<\/p>\n
During my growing-up years in Tennessee, there was the country song “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” The writer tells his story as one who desperately looked for romance, only to come up heartbroken. The song ends with the thought that the writer found love, and his search has ended.<\/p>\n
Spiritually, this is also a story that many can tell. The title makes me think of King Ahaz, the king of Judah from c. 735-715 BC. He was an extremely wicked ruler (II Kings 16:1-4; II Chronicles 28:1-4). In his days, Judah was under attack from every direction (II Kings 16:5; II Chron. 28:5-6, 17-18) because of Ahaz’s sin (II Chronicles 28:5, 6, 19). However, even when we suffer because of our foolishness, God hopes that the experience will turn us back to Him. But instead of turning to God, Ahaz was guilty of looking for love in all the wrong places. He turned to the king of Assyria looking for help (II Chronicles 28:16). He even addressed words to the king of Assyria that he should have only addressed to the LORD God, “I am your servant and your son, come up and deliver me<\/em>” (II Kings 16:7). But the king of Assyria did not help (II Chronicles 28:21). He turns to the gods of Damascus because they had helped their people, but they did not help him (II Chronicles 28:22-23). In the end, Ahaz turned in every direction for help except to the One who could help. When it came to the God who could have saved Ahaz, Ahaz closed the door of His house (II Chronicles 28:24).<\/p>\n Spiritually, are you looking for love in all the wrong places? There is only One to whom we can look who is in the right position to help and save. But the invitation to turn to Him is addressed to everyone (Revelation 22:17). You can look for love in the right place. You can look to the God who loves you (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; Galatians 2:20) and can save you (Acts 4:12). If you look to Him and trust and obey Him, then your song will also have a happy ending.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Tommy Peeler During my growing-up years in Tennessee, there was the country song “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” The writer tells his story as one who desperately looked for romance, only to come up heartbroken. The song ends with the thought that the writer found love, and his search has ended.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1685,65],"class_list":["post-87231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-help","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-king-jehoshaphat-remove-the-high-places-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":87231,"position":0},"title":"Did King Jehoshaphat remove the high places or not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am looking for a source of information concerning the apparent discrepancy regarding Jehoshaphat and the high places of Judah. In\u00a0II Chronicles 17:6\u00a0the record says the king removed the high places and wooden images from Judah. The parallel account in\u00a0I Kings 22:43\u00a0says he failed to take away the high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95306,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/extrabiblical-mentions-of-biblical-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":87231,"position":1},"title":"Extrabiblical Mentions of Biblical Characters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Stuart Steinberg Here is a list of inscriptions discovered that mention various figures in the Hebrew Bible. There are several dozen inscriptions-mostly seals, ostraca, plaques, and royal stelae-that mention individuals named in the Hebrew Bible. Below is a concise list of the key inscriptions and the biblical figures they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jehoshaphats-peace\/","url_meta":{"origin":87231,"position":2},"title":"Jehoshaphat’s Peace","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Kings 9:16-26 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0King Jehoshaphat, in general, was a good king - I Kings 22:42-43a \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To be said by God that he did right is a high complement \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But, like most men, Jehoshaphat had some character flaws - I Kings 22:43b \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His father, Asa,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43210,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-made-hezekiah-great\/","url_meta":{"origin":87231,"position":3},"title":"What Made Hezekiah Great?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Kings 18:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our reading tells us that Hezekiah was a great king of Israel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was no king like him before in Judah. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The question, though, is what made Hezekiah great? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t his father, Ahaz \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ahaz was a wicked man - II\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16275,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-from-the-reign-of-asa\/","url_meta":{"origin":87231,"position":4},"title":"Lessons from the Reign of Asa","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 15:8-24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Asa\u2019s reign was the third in Judah since the great division of Israel during the reign of Rehoboam \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His father, Abijam, only reigned three years. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Abijam was not a good king as the Lord counts goodness - I Kings 15:3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56908,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hezekiahs-comforting-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":87231,"position":5},"title":"Hezekiah’s Comforting Words","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lewis Willis via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0Vol. XLIV: 6 p. 14, March 16, 2000 Bible students are aware of that time when the nation of Israel divided into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Samaria was the capital of Israel, and Jerusalem was the capital of Judah. Israel was very wicked, living\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}