Here is a devotion to start your day!
Also available now at Power, Love & Miracles:
Unassuming Heroes of the Bible: The Empty Tomb. Introduction
The Women Who Stayed. The Bible Unplugged podcast, episode 70
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The Hero: Obadiah in Ahab’s Palace
Faithfulness behind enemy lines
Scripture: 1 Kings 18:1–16
Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly; for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
Reflection
Obadiah’s life was one long tension.
He served as the manager of King Ahab’s palace—a king who married Jezebel, promoted Baal worship, and hunted down the prophets of Yahweh. Obadiah moved through hallways filled with compromise and idolatry, yet Scripture says, “… Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly.”
His faith didn’t lead him out into the wilderness like Elijah. It kept him in the palace… and that’s where his hidden heroism took shape.
Quietly, at great personal risk, Obadiah hid one hundred prophets in caves and supplied them with food and water. While Jezebel tried to silence God’s voice, Obadiah quietly preserved it. Probably no one in the royal court knew what he was doing. But God did.
You might relate to Obadiah more than to Elijah. You’re not the one calling down fire on mountaintops. You’re the one going to work, navigating office politics, managing responsibilities in places that don’t always share your values. At times, you may even wonder, “Am I compromising by being here?”
Obadiah’s story suggests another possibility: sometimes God plants His people inside difficult systems so they can protect life, provide for His work, and keep His light flickering when everything else feels dark.
Your “palace” might be a school, a hospital, a corporation, a government office, or even a complex family system. You might feel outnumbered. But your quiet choices—to act with integrity, to protect the vulnerable, to support those who serve God—matter deeply.
You don’t have to be loud to be faithful.
You just have to keep saying yes to God in the place He’s put you.
Centering Prayer
God of Every Place,
You see me where I serve. Sometimes where I am feels far from holy, and I feel small within it. Center my heart in you. Give me courage to be quietly faithful, to protect others, and to obey you even when I’m afraid. Work through me where I am. – Amen
Practice for Today
Identify one way you can quietly serve or protect someone within your workplace, community, or family system today. Let it be an act of allegiance to God, not to human approval.
Journaling Prompt
Where has God placed me behind enemy lines? How might my presence be part of His care for others?
Closing Blessing
Be God’s person where He has placed you.
Let integrity guide you when compromise feels easier.
Protect the vulnerable with quiet courage.
Carry the fear of God, not the fear of people, into every hallway you walk.
Pray as You Go
Breathe in: Anchor me in You...
Breathe out: ... make me faithful where I am
