Isaiah 38 -- Hezekiah Prayed

Prior to the Assyrian invasion, but while Assyria was making threats to Judah and Jerusalem, Hezekiah found himself near death because of a boil on his skin.  Isaiah gave him God’s message that he would die.  Yet Hezekiah prayed, “Lord, please remember that I have always obeyed You.  I have given myself completely to You and have done what You said was right.”  He cried loudly.  He did not yet have a son, and his nation was in dire need of experienced leadership with Assyria threatening.

Isaiah hadn’t gotten far when God turned him around.  He told Hezekiah what God had said, “I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.  So I will add fifteen years to your life.  I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria.

In an amazing display of God’s omnipotence, He either took Hezekiah back in time a few hours (as evidenced by the sun’s shadow retreating), or He reversed the path of the earth’s rotation without disrupting everything on the face of the planet!  Either sign was incredible!

Hezekiah’s response was humility and praise for God.  “The Lord told me what would happen and then made it happen.”  His illness was not without blessing:  “I have had these troubles in my soul, so now I will be humble all my life.”  As with Hezekiah, God uses the troubles in our lives to cause us to be humble and to acknowledge our dependence upon Him.  “It was for my own good that I had such troubles,” he said.  God works for our own good in everything He does for us!

Father, I’m so thankful for the hard times, which led me to seek You out, to cry out to You, and to watch in amazement as You’ve answered with good.  Those times have stoked up my dependence upon You, and with each of these “divine appointments” I continue to grow my faith.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford