2 Kings 18:2-6

“He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. 4He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it. 5Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. 6He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.”

2 Kings 18:28-32

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand. 30Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 32until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’

Reflections..

Hezekiah was on the up and up. He was pursuing God and walking in His will. Sometimes we can be doing all the right things, and trouble comes knocking. Adversity come, trials cross our paths and the first initial thought is to think “what have I done.”  “What doors have I opened..?” Hezekiah was destroying evil altars and wickedness that had stifled the children of Israel in the land. He was on a reformation campaign, yet the King of Syria (Sennacherib) reared his ugly head. Everything that happens in our lives is not the result of a “door we have opened,” but simply because we are the Righteousness of God (in Christ). Because we are children of Light, of the day. God is the potter and we are the clay and He uses (doesn’t mean He sponsored) circumstances to mold and shape us to become more like Him.

When “life is life’ing”, when it hands us lemons, it can be easy to trust in our own understanding, and not Gods. When things seem unclear or confusing, Jesus is our firm foundation. Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” When we feel pressed in on all sides, it’s easy to forget the faithfulness of God.  

2 Kings 19:1says “On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.”

Whose report will we believe? When Hezekiah’s back was against the wall he ‘entered the house of the LORD.’ Our circumstances can seem loud, but the Truth of God’s Word is louder. When the enemy tries to get us to focus on the winds and the waves, our LORD is saying “focus on me.” When we focus on Him, we walk on water. When we focus on Him, He keeps us in perfect peace, because we trust in Him (Isaiah 26:3). God showed up and showed out on Hezekiah’s behalf. He fights our battles and He has a winning record. God see’s everything, and He knows what will happen, before it happens. He has the full picture, right before His eyes. Beginning to end, a bird’s eye view.