My devotional time this morning was in 2 Kings 20-21. The story of King Hezekiah. In 2 Kings 20:1 God tells Hezekiah to put his house in order because he is going to die. Hezekiah prays and reminds God that he has walked faithfully with him his who life. He cries and prays for his life to be spared.
In verse 6, God says that He has heard his prayers and seen his tears and that He will heal him. God tells Hezekiah that He will give him 15 more years to live.
What happens next? Hezekiah gets proud. He welcomes visitors from Babylon. He shows them all this treasures (vv 13-18). Isaiah rebukes him and tells him that he is going to lose everything. (vv17-18)
When Hezekiah dies, his 12 year old son, Manasseh, takes over. That means Manasseh was born in the “extra 15 years” that God gave Hezekiah. In 2 Kings 21:9, it says that Manasseh led the people astray and “did more evil than the other nations that the Lord had destroyed.” It goes on in verse 16 to describe how he shed innocent blood.
Because of Manasseh’s sin, God brought judgment on Israel.
So the last 15 years of Hezekiah’s life was an absolute disaster. God answered his prayer even though it wasn’t in Hezekiah’s best interest. He gave Hezekiah what he asked for even though it meant a disaster for the nation of Israel.
Perhaps the reason God was going to take Hezekiah home 15 years earlier was because He could see what the future was going to bring. It was God’s will to take him before all these problems.
When we pray, we need to be sure to be seeking God’s will and God’s best solution to problems and issues. He is so much wiser than we are. We can’t see what tomorrow holds, but God can. We need to trust in His love and care for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment