Hezekiah takes the kingdom of Judah and quickly gets out of the rut of his predecessors doing “what is evil in the sight of the Lord.” He tears down idols and focuses Judah back on God. King Hezekiah is described as a man who faithfully follows God, who has a heart similar to his great x8 grandfather, David, you know, the guy after God’s own heart. Hezekiah reigns successfully standing up against Assyria restoring its borders to Solomon’s reign. Scripture indicates that he held the prophet Isaiah in high regard and listened to what Isaiah told him. What was Hezekiah’s weakness? Pride, as suggested by his story in 2 Chronicles.
This bizarre story of Fifteen Years, comes upon Hezekiah falling sick. Isaiah tells him that he will not recover, but die. King Hezekiah immediately prays reminding God of his faithfulness and weeps bitterly. We had many discussions at our tables about his motives or attitudes in his reactions. As you can imagine, a flurry of thoughts and feelings would come with that news. God heard Hezekiah’s prayers and saw his tears and gave him 15 more years on the throne safe from the Assyrian Empire. What is your first reaction to horrible news? What is your first reaction to inconveniences that pop up in the middle of the day? Do you immediately pray? I wish I could say that. I give in to anger and frustration, self-pity and selfishness. These feelings are fertile soil for pride to start growing.
Pride and humility battle within our hearts. How can you, king of your own castle, ensure pride does not consume your heart? What actions have you done this week to show humility to your wife or your kids, your co-workers or employees? How can you be an example of humility in action, living the Christian faith, in a broken world? Perhaps, what struck the morning group the most (I am sorry I was not able to be at the lunch group) was the idea of blessing our own descendants? How do we live as examples of faith and not become barriers for the faith of our children and our children’s children? God is good and He is faithful. Let’s work on our first reactions to this world and become better “road markers” of a life with our God.