How great is our God! His glory is being revealed.
Our choice of focus determines our attitude about those statements. Surrounded by hardships, tragedies, and negativity, it is easy to become discouraged and even depressed. Unfulfilled dreams become wet blankets thrown over the flames of faith. Personal failures force the pride of life to turn our attention inward in a misguided attempt to find pleasure in pity. All of which turn our attention toward self and we miss seeing the glory of God.
That’s where you might find yourself today. The Enemy of our soul may be attacking viciously in an attempt to turn your focus from the face of Jesus to fear generated by any of the following:
Worldwide tragedies of war and nature.
Economic hardships projected upon our personal finances, which may cause us to consider stealing from God to pay our bills and fulfill our own dreams.
Hurtful words spoken by others become more believable than God’s Word as the statement of our worth.
Pride that turns the focus inward on personal pain rather than the pain we caused in others, hindering true repentance and forgiveness.
These are the things that oppose the glory of God in our lives today. Yet I hear the voice of God calling out from Isaiah 40 verses 3-5. “A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Oh that I might see the glory of God today. Reveal yourself, O Lord, in ways today that grab my attention and snap my head up to look at you.
Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”
What does it take to make you feel comfortable? I’m not talking about your pillow-top bed or your Lazy Boy recliner. I’m not referring to the temperature outside or inside. What is it that makes you feel comforted when all around you life is a mess? Where do you find your peace of mind when there is nothing but war around you – the war of words from people and the war of the worlds from an economic and political perspective?
The reason we may not feel as comforted as we should is that we are so shallow. We are really in denial of how much our sinful nature continues to dominate our thinking and dictate our attitudes. We say we are people of faith and trust, but in what have we truly placed our faith? We may think we have placed it in God, but I suspect that most of us have misplaced our faith in the knowledge of God’s activity rather than in the knowledge of His character and nature.
If our faith is placed in the knowledge of God’s activity and plan for our lives, then we will never find true comfort in the storms of life. Our faith must be completely in the nature of God and His character, regardless of how much information he provides about His specific plans for our situation.
Many years ago I was in a 24-foot boat with outriggers crossing a five mile stretch of the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines. We were on our way home from an island where we had dedicated a new church. The wind was strong, blowing right down the straights. The waves were bigger than anything I had ever experienced. There was one question on my mind. I did not care how far it was to the shore. I did not care what direction we were traveling. I did not care how long it was going to take to get out of the waves. The only thing I cared about was whether or not the boat was strong enough to carry us through. The nature and character of the boat mattered more than anything else.
John Hannah, writing in Preaching Today, tells this story:
“My wife returned from a gynecologist’s appointment some years ago to say, “In my routine checkup today the doctor discovered a lump.” I knew what that could mean. At the time we had a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I said to myself, “How will I ever raise my daughters alone?” For six months I thought that, trying to be brave.
“I would put my wife to bed and then go out into the living room and turn off the lights. In the darkness, with my Bible in my hand, I discovered the greatest comfort that can be given any man: not knowing that everything will be all right, but knowing that everything is under control.
“What comforted me was not the answers—there were none—but the character of God. I realized that God cared for me. He cares for the mountain goats, and he cares for me. I found out that this world is not chaotic. He controls the behemoth and the leviathan. He is infinite God, and I am finite man.
“So I could go to bed and rest, not in my knowledge, but in confidence in the character of God. He is good. He is infinite. He is full of mercy.”
Comfort comes from rightly placed faith. Make sure your faith is not wrongly placed in human understanding of God’s plan, but in the knowledge of Who God is. That is the key to comfort.
Today’s devotional will be brief. Don’t think it won’t be important. It has certainly been convicting to me.
Yesterday we talked about hindsight. There is another type of “sight” that is problematic. It is when we are shortsighted. You know, looking at the immediate rather than the future. Now that’s an appropriate topic in this day of wars, economic uncertainty, and social unrest.
Here’s the story from Isaiah 39. King Hezekiah decides to show off to the envoys from Babylon. He reveals to them the what he thinks is the glory of Israel – its wealth, technology, and military power. He does not reveal to them its true glory – the glory of God. Hezekiah needed affirmation and personal recognition, so he did what he thought was necessary to receive it – he showed off to visitors from another land.
As a result, God declared that the nation that he tried to impress would eventually use the information to overthrow Israel. His descendants, some not even born to him yet, would be taken captive. The nation would go into slavery, and all its wealth would be carried off.
Now, here’s the shortsighted response of Hezekiah.
Isaiah 39:8 “The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
Hezekiah only cared about his lifetime. In his mind he’s doing the math. “Let’s see, I have fifteen years left to live. I am going to father some children. When Babylon attacks those children will be old enough to be taken as slaves. That means I will be already dead when this invasion occurs. Therefore, it doesn’t matter. There will be peace and security for me for as long as I’m alive and that’s all I care about.”
What a horrible attitude. His choices and actions were going to result in the downfall of his country and the loss of his family, yet all he cares about is his immediate security. He had no concern for the future generations.
Before we get too hard on him, let’s take some time today to consider whether our political, financial, and even spiritual platforms are based on the same kind of shortsightedness, or are they based on the truth of God’s Word and His glorious outcomes.
If only our foresight was as good as our hindsight. Maybe we would make better decisions. Maybe we wouldn’t worry so much. Maybe we wouldn’t whine so much.
We tend to be pessimistic in the midst of our problems. We project the greatest harm as the likeliest possibility. We can hardly wait for the future so we can look back with regret. It is in our fleshly nature to expect the worst.
In his book Too Soon To Quit, George Sweeting, former President of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, told this story.
“After the stock market crashed in 1929, Dad could no longer find work in his bricklaying trade. In desperation, he took a job as night watchman for $28 a week. The Depression taught my family many life-building lessons:
We learned the importance of each family member as we struggled to meet the monthly mortgage payment. Mother took in washing and ironing. Brother Bill and I sold magazines door-to-door. The three boys helped deliver milk. We all made hat bands for a nearby factory, made and sold paper flowers.
The Depression days also taught us thrift and frugality. When we used tea bags, we did so again and again. The phone was used only for emergencies. One electric light was allowed to be turned on per room. Usually, we all studied and worked in a single room.
We also learned the value of money and the importance of avoiding credit. Mother used to say, “If your outgo is greater than your income, then your upkeep is headed for a downfall.”
“The Great Depression strengthened our faith. A few years of poverty can do more for spiritual maturity than 10 years of prosperity. I look back with gratitude for the lessons we learned.”
To hear some people talk today you would think that we are on the verge of another crash. Whether we are or not should not be our focus. Our faith in Almighty and Sovereign God is our focus. With proper foresight we will see God’s hand providing us with strength, perseverance, and hope that will allow us to praise Him in hindsight.
That was the prayer of praise from the lips and pen of Hezekiah after he was rescued from death.
Isaiah 38:17 “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.”
He saw God’s hand directing every step and action so that he was made stronger and more faithful than ever. Proper foresight will give us that kind of hindsight. Oh if we would only learn to praise Him in foresight because we truly trust His character and His promises.
When every crisis of life is over, there are two things I want to be true of me:
That I can look back in hindsight and say that I trusted God throughout it.
That I will look back in hindsight and see how God used my faith and hope in Him alone to bring encouragement to others.
To quote the words of the worship band Casting Crowns, “I will praise Him in the storm.”
What would you choose to believe if at the moment of being told by a doctor that you had 30 days to live, God came to you and clearly stated that you had 15 more years to live?
That’s kind of what happened to Hezekiah.
Isaiah 38:1 “In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
Hezekiah was very ill. He was told by the prophet Isaiah that he was going to die from his illness. Hezekiah prayed earnestly and declared his faithfulness to the Lord. God showed grace and granted his request for an extended life and gave him 15 more years. God confirmed the promise with a miracle by making the sun go backwards for a brief time. Hezekiah was incredibly blessed.
So what do you do with a blessing? There are two choices really. One is to use the opportunity to bring honor to the One who gave it to you. The other is to use the blessing to serve your own desires. It all depends upon what you believe about the following two statements:
God is gracious and merciful.
God is righteous and just.
Of those two statements, we tend to relate to the first one better than the second. It’s our human nature to want grace and mercy when we have been wrong, but to resist the consequences of our actions. We want what we decide is right for ourselves and we want no fear of justice if we are wrong. We want God to constantly forgive us and overlook our rebelliousness while we continue to pursue our own selfish goals.
Let’s analyze why we do that. Here’s what I think. Ultimately, we love ourselves more than we love God. Sounds overly simple, but it is the true heart of the issue. If we truly loved God and recognized what it cost Him to provide the grace He extends, then we would never mock His grace by taking advantage of it for our own benefit.
Hezekiah chose to love himself more than God. He was given a chance to father an heir to the throne. He had no son prior to his illness. He was given a chance to continue the reforms he had been making in the spiritual condition of the nation. He had an opportunity to show the people the reflection of God’s glory and grace, and to show them how to trust everything to their Father in heaven, including their status in the world.
Instead, Hezekiah chose to use the gift of fifteen years to exalt himself. Eventually it cost the freedom of his nation and the spiritual rebellion of the people. His own son who inherited the throne was wicked and reversed every reform that Hezekiah had made. God’s justice resulted in the capture of the land and the people by the Babylonians.
So what happened? Well, after receiving the gift of God’s grace, Hezekiah had some visitors from Babylon. As they took a tour of the palace, Hezekiah decided to show off and try to impress the delegation with his riches and power. Nothing is said about Hezekiah giving credit to God. Rather than being an ambassador of God, he sought the approval of Babylon’s ambassadors.
When confronted with what he had done, Hezekiah admitted his sin and God once again forgave him, but this time enforced the consequences. The nation would eventually be taken captive by the very people that he had tried to impress.
Here’s how it’s described in 2 Chronicles 32.
“In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD’S wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.”
Hezekiah was more in love with himself than he was with God. He proved it when after receiving an indescribable blessing, he turned it around on himself instead of using it to honor the one who gave it to him. The envoys of Babylon had come seeking to know about God and the sign they had seen of the sun moving backwards. Instead they got an earful and eyeful of Hezekiah. How sad.
Be careful what you do with blessings – your actions determine who you really love.
Never underestimate an opponent. One of my favorite examples of that comes from the 1980 Olympics. The Russian hockey team was formidable. They knew it. Perhaps they became overconfident. They certainly didn’t think that a rag-tag bunch of amateurs from American stood a chance. But by the end of the game the world was shouting “USA.”
Such was the case with the Assyrian army. A formidable foe. Indomitable. Except for one thing – they overlooked the power of their opponent’s God. But the expression of God’s power can be contingent on our recognition of the enemy’s power.
When Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, He had exhausted all his own ideas and energy. He came to the Lord humbly to release all authority over the problem to God. He wanted no control of or recognition for the outcome. He trusted God’s purpose and power.
In his humble stance before the LORD, Hezekiah admitted his own weakness in the face of a seemingly unconquerable opponent. Listen to what the King says in His prayer.
“It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.”
Hezekiah admitted to God that he understood the power of the enemy. He knew his own weakness in dealing with such oppositional strength. He cried out to the only source of strength greater than the problem – God.
Our prayers when asking God for help overcoming our problems must include two things:
An acknowledgement of who God is; and
An acknowledgement of who we are.
When we pray with a focus on God’s strength and a confession of our weakness then the power of God is released to bring about God’s intended outcomes. And those outcomes are guaranteed when we let go and get out of God’s way.
So today, begin to learn to pray like Hezekiah. Don’t try to cover up for your weaknesses by underestimating your enemy. Be honest about it. Tell God you are unable to handle it. Then step back and watch God work. You will be amazed at how good it feels.
People are deeply hurting over the spiritual, political, and economic conditions in our world. But one thing is always true – God is in control! His promises NEVER fail. He cannot not fulfill His Word. We tend to forget that in times of stress and hardship. At the first sign of trouble we quickly move into self-protection mode. We take control and try to fix it. Why do we do that? Why is it so easy for us to start trusting ourselves again rather than trusting God?
In the story of King Hezekiah, we learned yesterday how he prayed, and how we should pray, when the odds are overwhelmingly against us. Now look at the answer God gives through Isaiah in verse 21 of chapter 37. He says, “Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:”
God is pleased with Hezekiah’s prayer because it was one of surrender, not selfishness. Hezekiah stretched out the problem before the Lord, indicating that he was releasing control of the outcome to his Lord. As a result, God spoke against the king of Assyria. God will speak against our issues as well when we surrender them to Him.
In the next few days we will look at some of the specifics of God’s answer to Hezekiah, because there are some incredible truths for us to ponder. But for today, let’s look at the end of this story. Here’s what happens as a result of Hezekiah’s prayer of surrender:
“Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.”
Notice three things from the story that are applicable to our present situation:
Jesus Christ is involved. The Angel of the Lord is Jesus, and He is personally involved in conquering the enemy that is attacking you.
The problem will go away. At the hand of God, and by His will, He can remove the problem and He can give you sufficient grace based on your faith in Him to sustain you while the problem remains.
The problem will be permanently punished. The King of Assyria was murdered by his own sons and he went to his eternal punishment. It may seem like it’s taking a long time, but not one problem will survive the judgment of God.
God is in control! So cast all your cares upon Him. Surrender every issue and problem to Him. The promise of God is that His peace, that surpasses all human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 37:15-16 ”And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
Fourteen years ago when we had some winter warm weather that was melting our snow, the end of my driveway was filled with slush. So I took the shovel and went out to remove it. After four or five exertions of my muscles to lift that heavy wet mess and toss it aside I felt a little twinge in my chest. I took a break, and it seemed to be okay, so I finished the job.
When I got into the house I called the doctor and made an appointment. The next day I was having an EKG at his office, and when that turned out normal (if anything about me can ever be considered normal) he scheduled a stress test. A week later I was on a treadmill having my heart function analyzed, and I praise the Lord that everything was fine. But that first twinge of pain, which was probably just muscles screaming from inactivity, was a real wakeup call.
When Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, invaded Judah, it was a real wakeup call for the people and for King Hezekiah. He had tried to be a faithful king. He had destroyed all the places of worship in the land that were primarily used by the people to worship idols. He had asked people to focus their worship on the one true God by coming to Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. But the people were rebellious and wanted what they wanted when they wanted it. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
When Sennacherib sent his envoys to Hezekiah with another letter defaming the name of God, it was a wakeup call for the King of Judah. This time he did not seek after the prophet Isaiah to try to re-connect with God. This time he went directly to God. He had been encouraged by Isaiah’s words that the Lord was going to deal with this attack. That encouragement motivated him to begin anew his own relationship with the Lord.
When Hezekiah approaches God, he does so humbly. He went to the temple and spread his problems out before God. How often do we go to the Lord in a time of distress and ask for help, but we never really release the control of the problem to the Lord? Hezekiah laid everything on the altar and gave it all to Him. He showed great faith and trust in the Lord’s outcome.
Let’s read Hezekiah’s prayer, and notice the honor and awe he expresses towards God. Our prayers to God for every problem, every issue, and every need should be encapsulated in this kind of praise and worship to Almighty God.
“O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”
Not only should our prayers be bathed in praise and worship, but the ultimate request we make no matter what the issue about which we pray should be the glory of God on the earth. Hezekiah acknowledges his fear over the facts of his circumstances. Sennacherib has already been successful over every other nation that worshiped other false gods. But Hezekiah knows that the will of God is for all men to know Him and connect to Him, so that is the basis of His request.
Friends, we get pretty selfish in our prayers don’t we. We want God to bring us glory. We ask Him to meet our needs or solve our problems according to our projected outcomes that we believe will benefit us the most. But when we pray according to the will of God – that the people who see what God does in our lives will have to acknowledge that He alone is God – then we will be praying correctly.
So what wakeup calls has God sent into your life recently? Are you responding according to His will and glory or your own?
I have had several conversations recently with people who don’t believe in God. All are willing to admit that there may be a God, but that His identity and involvement in the course of human events are both questionable. All the people are in distress in their lives. None know where to turn.
This was the plight of King Hezekiah. The King of Assyria had laid siege to the land of Judah and was terrorizing them with physical and verbal attacks. Hezekiah knew of God but did not trust in Him nor serve Him. Neither did the people he ruled. But now, in this time of distress and disgrace, he turned to the only place that still offered a glimmer of hope – the prophet of God named Isaiah.
There are two things that are obvious to me in this story that are still true of people’s life stories today:
They are under attack, causing stress, leading to distress and even disgrace; and
They don’t have a personal relationship with the God who can save them.
Notice King Hezekiah’s message to the prophet Isaiah in chapter 37 verse 4.“It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
Twice the king refers to God, but not personally. He refers to Him as the Lord your God. He knew that Jehovah was Isaiah’s God, but he couldn’t say that was true for himself. Yet when all hope was gone, and Hezekiah came to the realization that there was nothing he could do to solve the problem, he sought God.
People today are in the same situation. They are stressed and in distress. They have a financial crisis, or a marriage crisis. They are hurting and want someone to reach out to them and resolve the problem. If only they would understand that Jesus Christ will give them hope even when all the circumstances of life are hopeless. If only they would come to a place of surrender and give their hearts and minds to Jesus. Then they could know that the Lord God is their God, and that He never fails and never forsakes those who love Him and serve Him.
There is one more interesting point in this story. When Hezekiah was at the end of his rope, and needed to contact God, he knew where to go. He knew that there was a man who had a relationship with God and whose life was different because of it. He knew that he could go to Isaiah and get a message to God.
Oh how I pray that is always true of me…and you. Even though the people of the world usually just want someone to extend a helping hand or relieve their pain, they know that the people of God are the ones with the compassionate hearts. Or at least they should be. Are we? Are we truly people’s connecting point to God?
Here are some questions to ponder:
Are we the people who stand out in the world because in the midst of life’s worst problems our faith in God controls our emotional reactions?
Are we the people who maintain an attitude of hope in the righteousness of God when all the rest of the world is fighting for their rights?
Are we the people who model to the world the peace of God when all around us people are living in fear?
When someone finally hits rock bottom, and has nowhere to turn, will they think of us as the place where they can connect to God?
Does our attitude and reaction to crisis show that the Lord is truly our God?
I see God’s people handling the financial, emotional, relational, and political crises of our day in two ways. One makes them look and act a lot like those with no hope. Others have their hearts set on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and their affections and hope are on Him. Those are the true faithful followers of Jesus. Those are the people we can turn to for help and hope. Be one of those people.
Silence is scary – especially for someone as impulsively vocal as I am. But according to an old saying, ”Silence is Golden.” The whole saying goes like this – “Speech is silvern, but silence is golden.” In the Bible, the wisdom of King Solomon said that there is “a time to speak and a time to be silent.” I have the speaking part down real well. It doesn’t turn out well many times, but I certainly speak a lot. It’s the silence part that needs a lot of work.
King Hezekiah’s representatives were being verbally bashed by the commander of the Assyrian army. They were being told that they had no hope of surviving unless they surrendered. But after the audible assault was over, they remained silent. They were under orders to do so. They obeyed. Hezekiah wanted information. He didn’t want debate. This was a battle that would be won by the Lord’s power not by man’s reason. That’s the lesson we need to learn and apply more frequently in our lives.
There are numerous passages about silence in the Bible. I have narrowed them down to the two areas that may need the most work.
When verbally attacked, follow the example of Jesus
Matthew 26:59-63“The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent.”
Isaiah 53:7“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.”
When we are under attack from others, or even if they just make a decision or mistake that affects us negatively, be silent. Leave it in God’s hands.
When angry at someone, think a long time before you speak
Psalm 4:4“In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”
Proverbs 17:28“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.”
Don’t respond to people in anger. Be silent until you can respond rationally and not emotionally.
But we must not always be silent. The Bible teaches that we must use our words to build others up instead of tear them down. Unfortunately we tend to be silent or speak the wrong things when we could be speaking the good things.
The church of Jesus Christ would be a whole lot better place if we would learn to speak when we should and be silent at all other times. Be silent when it hurts others. Be silent when we need to hear from God. But speak up when it helps others and draws them closer to Jesus.
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