STRENGTH TO CARRY ON

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all 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.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”

2 Kings 19:1-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been in distress?

I think we all have.

There are just those times in life when things are in turmoil and disruption. Normal seems to be a thing of the past never to return. Hope gives way to despair. Confidence to fear.

So what do we do when we find ourselves in this situation…in need of strength to carry on?

The opening of verses in 2nd Kings, Chapter 19, offer an answer.

You’ll recall in Chapter 18 that Assyria’s King Sennacherib had defeated the northern kingdom of Israel, moving the Israelites to Assyria. He then began attacking the fortified cities of Judah, setting his sights on Jerusalem.

Sennacherib sent one of his field commanders to meet with Judah’s King Hezekiah but instead got three of Hezekiah’s servants (Eliakim, Shebna and Joah). Sennacherib’s representative proceeded to try and tempt Judah to give up, questioning the trustworthiness of Hezekiah and even God. The hope was that Judah would just surrender to Assyria without a fight.

Well, the three servants returned to Hezekiah and reported everything the field commander had said. Their words caused Hezekiah so much distress that he “tore his clothes…put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord”. He also sent “Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests…to the prophet Isaiah” for guidance and counsel. Dressed in sackcloth, the servants told Isaiah:

“This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all 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.”

Did you see the keys to handling times when you don’t feel strong enough to handle life’s challenges…like children being at the moment of birth without enough strength to deliver them?

Here’s key 1: You have to first acknowledge that you don’t possess the strength to make it on your own.

We too often seem to want to be in control of things. Rather than turn to God and seek His help, we think we can handle our problems without Him. Essentially, we fail to trust God because we place our trust in ourselves.

So how does that work out?

Well, God allows us to make decisions like this and will let us try and trust in ourselves so He can show us that we’ll fail every time when we do. And we’ll stubbornly try and try and try to do it solo until we wear out when we can’t go it alone anymore. This is when we seek help and more often than not, we seek it from the Lord, finally acknowledging that we can’t get through our circumstances without His power and might.

This leads to key 2: Once you see God as your strength and the sole source of deliverance, then you place your full trust in Him to manage things.

After he went into the temple, Hezekiah addressed God by saying:

“It may be that the Lord your God will hear all 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.”

Hezekiah wasn’t turning from God and trusting in his own ability to defeat Sennacherib. No, he was showing his faith that God heard the mocking words of Sennacherib’s field commander and would take action.

Two important keys with an equally important result when we exercise them right.

For when we understand our lack of strength to make it through difficulty and trust in God’s ability to do all things, we find ourselves in a place where God will reward.

In the case of King Hezekiah, we read where his servants had went to Isaiah and received the following report…a report that underscores the comfort we can gain when we fully trust God and His ability to do all things…even rescue us from distress:

Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”

There was no need to fear the Assyrians. For God doesn’t take kindly to being disrespected and was ready to take action against the Assyrians for the way they blasphemed God.

God will also attack our problems in life to show us that there is nothing beyond the work of His almighty hands. We need only follow Hezekiah’s lead and bring our distress to Him. For when we trust Him in this way, we truly come to understand that He and He alone grants us the strength to carry on.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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