Last week, our family purchased a new puppy. Besotted by her fun-loving temperament, we all love coming home to her welcome. As cute as she is, she definitely needs training and we are all learning to tell her ‘no’ very firmly. She is getting the idea of the word and has even learned how to sulk quite effectively. She puts her tail between her legs and gives us a sad look as she wanders off after a scolding. I hope she soon learns to respond well to correction so we can stop leaving home with bite marks on our hands!
What a common reaction it is to go off to sulk when we don’t get our own way or when we can’t have what we want when we want it. We might not put our tail between our legs, or stick out our lower lip like a young child, but we all have ways of feeling sorry for ourselves. What do you do when you don’t succeed or don’t get your own way?
Our Old Testament reading today tells a sobering story about a king who does not get his own way. King Ahab wants his neighbour’s vineyard. He asks nicely but is refused. So Ahab turns on a good sulk. His wife decides to help and her dishonest scheme ends in murder so the king can have what he really wanted in the first place. When a prophet of God arrives to reprimand the king, the king takes no notice and the story ends with disaster looming for the king and his family.
This sad story could have ended so differently had the King not let his sulking lead to sin. This sad story could even have ended differently had the King listened to the prophet and sought forgiveness.
How easy it is for our sulking to lead to sin! It happens when we hold a grudge, or take revenge in some clever way. It happens when we withhold affection or walk away angry from a situation and refuse to work for reconciliation. It happens when we feel sorry for ourselves and draw others into our anger. All of these are patterns of pouting that we fall into when things do not go our way.
Should not our Christian faith help us respond differently? Rather than sulking, take your disappointment to God in prayer. Ask God to help you through the situation, accept what has happened and move on with his gracious help.
But if you have sinned and find yourself in the middle of a sad story like King Ahab’s, a story of broken relationships and pain brought on by disappointment, then do something to change it. Be honest and confess to God that you have sinned. Seek out the people you may have hurt and ask their forgiveness. Don’t let it end badly, be assured that restoration is possible through the grace of God.
1 John 1.9 ‘if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness’.


Rev’d Beth Spence