God IS In Control

When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby. But perhaps the Lord your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!”

After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah, the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’” [2 Kings 19.1-7]

Today's OYCB reading is basically several different accounts of the same event regarding Jerusalem and King Hezekiah. The gist of the story however is that Jerusalem was under siege by Assyria, who by all accounts, should have been able to execute a sure and devastating defeat to Judah and King Hezekiah. Hezekiah turned to God for help and, against insurmountable odds, was relieved of the impending defeat and doom that Sennacherib of Assyria promised.

As the story goes, we were able to see how God used situations and circumstances to His end. We also saw that God used Isaiah to declare His intentions to save Hezekiah and Jerusalem. There was no military defense by Jerusalem other than securing their walls - but God slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian troops over the course of one night!

Still a bit confusing to me is how God used Sennacherib to destroy many nations and then in the end destroyed Sennacherib. It was obvious that Sennacherib was clueless to the fact of his being used by God. It was also obvious by Sennacherib's threats that he was himself confused about Who God is and was unable to distinguish between Him and the idols that Hezekiah had destroyed.

I guess the point of this story about Judah is that the circumstances looked bleak but God delivered with a mighty miraculous hand. To all who observed the event from the outside, it could have been attributed to chance. Plagues did happen and military landscapes did change - it could have been viewed that these circumstances were purely coincidental. The only problem with such an assumption of circumstances are the actions of Hezekiah and Isaiah before the events took place! Hezekiah prayed and Isaiah prophesied! Had it not been for these two actions, the entirely of this story could have been 'explained away' as pure luck of the circumstance for Hezekiah and Jerusalem.

We need to pray and we need to hear the Word of the LORD in response. It's that simple. In these modern times in which we live where Christianity is quite literally under attack, we need to turn to God! And then, when God takes control and changes circumstances, we need to give Him the glory for it regardless how simply fortuitous the circumstances appear!

God IS in control of every circumstance! Be sure of it.

Father, I've been rather random in my thoughts here today, but in the end, I realize that every circumstance I am in right this very moment is a tool You are using in my life and journey. Thank You!