One of my favorite characters in the Old Testament is King Hezekiah of Judah. He always interested me, but his story really came to life after reading Lynn Austin's "Chronicles of the Kings" book series. He is one of those characters that did his best to live the right way his whole life. The Bible shares with us his mistakes and his victories and paints the picture of a good, down-to-earth type man who was just trying to do the right thing. He struggled with his pride, but then, doesn't everyone?
My favorite part of his story is found in 2 Kings 18 and 19. In this passage, we see the king of Assyria come up and take over Judah's sister country, Israel. Feeling heady after his victory, the king of Assyria sends a man named Rabshekah to Judah's capital, Jerusalem, with a message for the country. He said, "Pay tribute or be destroyed." Unfortunately for him, though, he decided that just attacking the King of Judah with his words wasn't enough. He took it a step further and said, "Your God told me to come destroy you. Don't count on Him to save you from me. None of the other gods have been able to stop us from destroying their countries. Even the Israelites' gods didn't give them the victory. Who does your God think He is to be able to do what no other gods have done?"
When the Assyrian message reached King Hezekiah, he did what any normal tiny country being bullied by a larger country would do. He became afraid. He rent his clothes, covered himself with burlap and went to the House of the Lord. He sent his messengers to give the news to Prophet Isaiah and ask him to seek the counsel of God. God answered Hezekiah.
"Do not be afraid of the words the King of Assyria spoke. I'm going to send a rumor that will send him and his army away from you. When he goes, he's going to be killed and never bother you again."
Sure enough, it happened just as the Lord said. Rabshekah heard that his king was battling against the Egyptians and took his army over to help. Before he left, though, he wrote a letter to King Hezekiah. He reiterated his former threats and challenges against God. He knew enough to know that King Hezekiah's God was invisible, so he battle Hezekiah's faith in the invisible with a visible reminder of a problem. He hoped to shake Hezekiah's faith so bad that he would break down and deny the power of God.
His plan, however, backfired badly.
King Hezekiah's reaction was far from pulling his hair out, having a nervous breakdown, and quitting. Instead, he did something that will always fascinate me. He took the visible reminder, the letter, and took it to the altar of his invisible God. He laid it out on that altar and started praying.
"God, you made all the kingdoms of eath. You made Heaven and earth. Listen to my prayer with your ears. See the problem with your eyes. This man hasn't attacked me; he has attacked you. The Assyrians have destroyed many people and nations. They have cast many gods into the fire, but you and I both know that those were not real gods. They were no-gods, just works of stone and wood and of no consequence. That's how they could destroy them so easily. But I know my God. My God created the materials of which those no-gods were made. My God has the power to save us from the Assyrians. So, show up! Save us and show them and every other country that YOU are the only true God!"
In essence, he laid that letter before God and said, "What are you going to do about this?"
The Bible doesn't tell us how long he waited for God to answer, but something tells me that it wasn't very long. Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah that said, "God has heard your prayers. He says, 'I am going to absolutely decimate the king of Assyria. It will be so bad that the young girls of Jerusalem are going to joke and laugh at him. Who do you think you are, human king, to reproach and blaspheme ME? I am bringing a multitude of my chariots against you. I know where you live. I know when you wake up in the morning and when you go to bed at night, and I can see everything you do in between. I hear your voice raging at me and challenging me, and no, I'm not just going to let that go. I'm going to put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips. I'm going to remind you that I am the Creator, and you are just the created. Your pride fills my nostrils with a stomach-turning stench, and I'm going to make sure the whole earth knows how I feel about what you have done.
"I'm not going to let a single Assyrian arrow strike Jerusalem. He's not going to penetrate the wall or make it close enough to need a shield for your arrows. He's going to leave the way that he came."
2 Kings 19:35: "And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses."
1 angel of God. 185,000 dead Assyrians.
And in the next two verses, the King of Assyria is killed by his own sons. God answered...suddenly.
When we are baptized, we put on Jesus Christ. When we are filled with the Holy Ghost, we have Jesus living inside of us. This means that your life becomes Jesus' life. He lives inside of you. This is why Christians say they are the "Hands and Feet" of Jesus. He is alive inside of me, therefore, my life is not my own. It is His.
If this is His life, not mine, then these are His problems, not mine. They are not my problems because it is not my life.
Now that we understand that, let's go back to the story of King Hezekiah. Because these are His probelms, I can, like King Hezekiah, turn to God and boldy ask, "What are you going to do about this?"
"For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God, we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever." (Psalm 44:6-8)
In prayer, I lay that letter out on the altar. I say, "Lord, this is what I am facing. I am living for you and serving you. I know that you are living inside of me and that makes these problems Your problems. I am leaving these in your presence. I am not taking them with me. I am not carrying them on my shoulders anymore. What are you going to do about this?"
Jesus told us to do this when He said, "Cast your burdens on me, for I care for you." (1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22) He allows us to do this for many reasons, but these are the 4 that He impressed upon me while I was praying today:
Reason 1: It shows surrender. It reminds you that you are not in control, but He is. It takes away the pressure of trying to be in control. It shows your faith in Him.
Reason 2: It frees you to worship and it battles depression.
"Why art though cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."
When you cast those cares upon Him and leave that letter on the altar, you free yourself to lift your hands and worship. You cannot be consumed by a problem that you have given to someone else. Your faith battles the depression and you are freed.
Reason 3: It frees you from fear. Along with the depression, fear is removed. You are no longer bound to fear. You are not going to make rash decisions based on your fear because it is no longer your decision to make.
Reason 4: It frees God to work in His way and His timing. God will not share authority, and when you constantly hold onto control of your problem or situation, you push God out. Open your hand and THROW (cast) it to Jesus. Allow Him to have the complete authority and answer the way that He wants to. Hezekiah may have been expecting God to say, "Go out and fight. I will give you the victory." But instead, God answered in an even greater way. His 1 angel was all it took to bring a mighty victory because Hezekiah allowed God to work in His way!
Finally, it may not be "That night" like it was for Hezekiah. While we are waiting for God to SUDDENLY answer, we must keep our faith. We must not let ourselves take control of those problems again. We must leave them in His hands and remember who He is.
"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know WHOM I have believed, and am persuaded that HE is able to keep that which I have committed unto HIM against that day."
If you have committed something to Him, He will not fail you. He cares for you!
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