Recognizing Hezekiah's Experiences In Our Own Lives - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 32:1,

"After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself."

Here is something instructive for us. As this verse points out, Hezekiah, king of Judah, had to face the threat of a military campaign against himself and Jerusalem. And, this, as our verse points out, after Hezekiah had been so faithful in all he had done before the Lord.

Sometimes you hear in the church today that if you just do all the right things before the Lord, he will bless you and all your troubles, cares and concerns will all go away. This is a foreign concept to the Scriptures for us in the church today, as well as King Hezekiah and Judah back in his day.

In 2 Chronicles 31:20-21 we read, "This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered." Yet, two challenges came his way in spite of this: the threat posed by Assyria against Judah, and an illness that personally threatened Hezekiah that we read of toward the end of chapter 32.

I find an interesting observation given us in verse 31 where we read of envoys from Babylon sent to Hezekiah to ask him about the "miraculous sign that had occurred in the land", we are told, "God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart."

God has promised us redemption from our sins if we embrace him in faith. He has promised us eternal life with a guaranteed place in his family, his kingdom. He has promised us gifts through his Holy Spirit, he has promised to bless us in so many ways. However, he has never promised he would remove difficulty from us, that he would remove all of our troubles, cares and concerns from us.

Here is what Jesus Christ promised us in Revelation 3:19, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." Here is what we are taught in Hebrews 12:7-11, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all... No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

We should all reject the false teachings promoted these days and look to the Scriptures. It is certainly better for us to be trained in the Scriptures so we know what to expect when we come into God's family. The Scriptures provide us all we need. A part of that provision is this account of King Hezekiah.

As God's children in this life, we need to be prepared for the difficulties the Lord sends our way as he pursues his purposes in our lives. These difficulties are the masterful work of our loving heavenly Father designed purposely and specifically for each one of us.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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