Good king Hezekiah endured a lot of trouble. In the midst of a violent siege he was assaulted by a deadly illness. He became deeply troubled but remained faithful to the Lord. He thus becomes a model of covenant fidelity much like his forefather, King David. But like David, he was not perfect. Although Hezekiah knew that he could depend upon the Lord to answer prayer, that the Lord would heal his affliction, when things got better, he made a serious error in judgment. Unfortunately his error was one of the reasons for the eventual fall of Judah and her exile under the Babylonians. His trust of the Babylonians displayed a lack of trust in the Lord.
Despite his weakness, Hezekiah remains a great example of a faithful believer. Like him, we are assaulted by troubles and illness. Like him we are overwhelmed and frightened by them. Yet we should learn from him that we can take our feelings and doubts and fears and form them into a prayer to the Lord. Such a prayer prayed from the heart demonstrates our faith and trust for such a prayer acknowledges our weakness and our total reliance on God for help. It also increases our faith for we know that even if the answers we seek are not the ones the Lord provides, God has not deserted us and will provide the strength we need to endure. Do you feel God has deserted you? Tell Him about it now. He’s listening.
Comments