Isaiah 37:14 -- On Taking it to 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


This is part of a pretty cool story where this guy named Rabshakeh comes from Assyria to threaten the people of Jerusalem. He tells them not to trust in the Lord, because none of the other nations they conquered were able to withstand them with their "gods" so why would they be able to do better? And so they go to the king Hezekiah, and he sends for Isaiah, and Isaiah says don't worry... he'll hear a rumor and leave. ... And he does.

So then Hezekiah gets a letter from the Assyrian forces again, with similar threats and similar blasphemy against God, and this time he goes to the temple, and he spreads out the letter, and he prays. He knows there is an army out there and he knows they can't fight it, but he also knows that the Lord is real, and that the Lord can save them if he chooses to, so he pleads with him to do so. So, then the Lord sends Isaiah to tell him that the army won't come into the city or even shoot an arrow into it. Then he sends an angel and 185,000 of the enemy army just don't wake up the next morning, having died in the night. So, they retreat.

The story is super cool in showing us how the Lord preserves his people, and helps us when we can't help ourselves. I think we all have times in our lives that are like this too. We can't see a way out of the situation. If it were up to us, it would end badly... but the Lord is there, and willing to help us, and we plead with him, and things work out. That is a miracle... maybe our situation isn't as huge or dramatic as an army waiting to destroy us, but every time we call upon God and he helps us with something that we were *definitely* not ready to handle... still a miracle. Still an amazing rescue from the Lord.

I don't think the Lord is going to save us from everything, since we have to learn how to handle things, and stretch our capabilities, but that doesn't mean that we are ever totally on our own either. Even when the answer is that we need to handle it, God is there, making sure that we have the strength and the capability to do so. He is helping us even then. Today, let's take our problems to the Lord, and talk to him about how to solve them, and get his help. He loves us, and the more we trust him and welcome him into our lives, the more we will see his hand, and know that he is lifting us and sustaining us every day.