Monday, October 6, 2014

Isaiah 37:14 -- On Spreading our Problems before the Lord

"And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord."
Isaiah 37:14


Hezekiah was worried that Assyria was going to take over Jerusalem, so he sent people to consult Isaiah.  Isaiah told them not to worry, and that God was going to send the king of Assyria back the way he came.  And then he got a letter from the king that specifically told him not to listen to his God's assurances, because it didn't work for anyone else, and Assyria had destroyed everyone else, and he was coming.  So, he takes the letter to the temple and spreads it out before the Lord.
Of course, at the end of the story, God drives the Assyrian army away and Jerusalem is saved.  God said he would do it, and there was never a moment where he wasn't going to fulfil his word.  But in between the promise and the fulfillment we can often get impatient or feel lost, thinking that God isn't going save us as he promised to.  I think that what Hezekiah did here is what we should always do with the problems in our lives, especially when they are causing us stress... spread them out before God.  Let him know that we are willing to do whatever he asks, but that we could use some guidance.  This is usually a step that we need rather than one that God needs, but it helps us to review the issues, and know that God is aware.  It also, sometimes, helps us immediately as we see it more clearly when spread out, and we realize that the choice is clear, now that we are presenting it to God. 
Today, let's spread our problems before the Lord.  Let's allow him to calm our doubts and our fears.  Let's have patience and faith, not only that God will fulfill his promises, but that his timing is perfect... and ours could use some work.  As with Hezekiah, we should go to the Lord with big problems, but it's also okay to go to him with smaller ones than an invading army.  God is willing to help us with whatever is troubling us.

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