Sometimes the greatest victories in our life come when we have run out
of options. When we have nowhere to look but up. Where we have nowhere to go
but down on our knees.
That was what happened to King Hezekiah in Isaiah 36-37. Sennacherib,
the king of Assyria, sent one of his top military leaders with a massive army
to attack Jerusalem and take its inhabitants captive. The Assyrians knew how to
do this, too! They could lay a siege around a city so that no one went in and
no one came out. Eventually, the inhabitants would run out of food and water.
With no food and water, some may resort to consuming their own refuse (see
Isaiah 36:12). Still others may even resort to cannibalism (see 2 Kings
6:24-29).
With this impending doom, the Assyrian military commander outside the
wall was wearing the inhabitants of Jerusalem down with his words. He intended
to get them to lose heart by doubting God’s ability to save them. He said:
“Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us!’
Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of
Assyria? What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods
of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power? What god of any nation
has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think
that the LORD can rescue Jerusalem from me?” (Isaiah 36:18-20 – New Living
Translation)
Hezekiah, the king, had run out of options. He had no military might to
fight the vast army outside Jerusalem’s walls. He knew his people were
terrified. He also knew that the Assyrian leader in his arrogance would not leave.
So, what was he to do? He inquired of Isaiah, the prophet of the Lord.
And then, he sought the Lord for himself! Isaiah 37:14-20 tells us that
Hezekiah went to the temple and got alone with God. He poured out his heart and
made it clear that God’s glory was on the line. Hezekiah prayed that God would
move powerfully so “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone
are the Lord.” (Isaiah 37:20).
The end result is that God DID move. By the end of Isaiah 37, the
Assyrian army had left and Jerusalem experienced peace.
When trials come into our lives, we cannot sit back and simply pray. If
there is something we can/should do, then we should do it. A farmer would be
foolish if he prayed that God would give him a good harvest if he failed to plant
his own field!
Yet, too many of us may have forgotten this powerful tool in our
Christian arsenal called prayer. Realize that God is powerful. He delights to
hear from His children. We may forego many answers to prayer if we never drop
to our knees in prayer.
Why not bring your burdens to the Lord today? And keep praying until
the Lord either answers your request or directs you in what adjustments you
must make before He provides His answer.
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