Easy Come, Easy Go...

2 Kings Chps 18-20

King Hezekiah trusted in the Lord:

 ⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. ⁶ He held fast to the LORD and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. ⁷ And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. (Chp 18:5-7)

While he was successful, we must note that this success belongs to God and to God alone - we are not to claim it for our own glory.

In part because of Hezekiah's faithfulness to the Lord, God protects Israel from the Assyrians:

 ³⁵ That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.(Chp 19:35-36)

And once again, Hezekiah is blessed by being healed:

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: ⁵ “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’” (Chp 20:4-6)

Yet, even as he is blessed, we learn that it is only through the grace of God alone, not through our own doing that we are blessed and in good fortune.  God can just as easily take it all away:

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: ¹⁷ The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. ¹⁸ And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (Chp 20:16-18)

My Prayer: Lord, I KNOW I am blessed...I am so blessed that cannot even acknowledge all the ways that I am blessed - there are too many.  It is because you love me and because all you do is because you love me.  Forgive me when I refuse to acknowledge your love for me or see you bless me.  Help me focus on how great you are, how blessed I am, and how I need to love you more, obey you more, follow you and seek you out more, desire you more and trust you more.  Help me with all of this Lord.