Lessons on Seeking God - II Kings 19-21 and John 4:1-30
It is obvious that Hezekiah had faith in the Lord, and he was seeking His protection from the Assyrian threat. God chose to answer him twice and to save the city of Jerusalem from destruction by the Assyrians. What a testimony to the power of God and His response to faithful prayers. I love the way he took the letter to the Temple and spread it out before the Lord as he prayed. Then, God sent an angel to kill 185,000 Assyrians. Hezekiah must have had a pure heart before the Lord. We see this in the reforms he made in Judah, too. I hope we can all experience God's answers to our prayers seeking Him like Hezekiah did.
However, there were at least two problems. Once God added 15 years to his life after his sincere prayer, Hezekiah neglected to seek the Lord's will when the representatives came from Babylon. He showed them the treasures of the Temple, and God must have seen something impure in his motives, so he pronounced his punishment because of that sin. Babylon would come and take all of those riches back to their land. What happened to Hezekiah? Why did he not pray about this? Could it be that he did not think it was that important? I think that could have been the reason. We always mess up when we fail to pray for the things we consider little things. To God, they might be big things. Then, there is the matter of his son, Manasseh. He reigned 55 years, but he was one of the most evil kings of Judah. Why did Hezekiah not pray for his son and show him the ways of the Lord? Maybe he did, but chances are he was too busy being king, and he neglected his son. This was a terrible lack of faith in God. We must pray for our families and lead them to the Lord, or they could turn out to be used by Satan to go against what we had worked hard to build up.
Then, think about the woman at the well in John 4. She was not even seeking the Lord at all. God was seeking her. He sent Jesus through Samaria to witness to her. She brought her town to the Lord. How great is that! God comes after us, even when we are not seeking Him. We do have to listen to Him once He shows up though like this lady. God loves us so much, He will not leave us in our sin without coming after us. That is a great love. I wouldn't advise you to ignore God, though. The best thing is to seek Him with all of your heart. If you do, you will find Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 22-23 and John 4:31-54.
However, there were at least two problems. Once God added 15 years to his life after his sincere prayer, Hezekiah neglected to seek the Lord's will when the representatives came from Babylon. He showed them the treasures of the Temple, and God must have seen something impure in his motives, so he pronounced his punishment because of that sin. Babylon would come and take all of those riches back to their land. What happened to Hezekiah? Why did he not pray about this? Could it be that he did not think it was that important? I think that could have been the reason. We always mess up when we fail to pray for the things we consider little things. To God, they might be big things. Then, there is the matter of his son, Manasseh. He reigned 55 years, but he was one of the most evil kings of Judah. Why did Hezekiah not pray for his son and show him the ways of the Lord? Maybe he did, but chances are he was too busy being king, and he neglected his son. This was a terrible lack of faith in God. We must pray for our families and lead them to the Lord, or they could turn out to be used by Satan to go against what we had worked hard to build up.
Then, think about the woman at the well in John 4. She was not even seeking the Lord at all. God was seeking her. He sent Jesus through Samaria to witness to her. She brought her town to the Lord. How great is that! God comes after us, even when we are not seeking Him. We do have to listen to Him once He shows up though like this lady. God loves us so much, He will not leave us in our sin without coming after us. That is a great love. I wouldn't advise you to ignore God, though. The best thing is to seek Him with all of your heart. If you do, you will find Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 22-23 and John 4:31-54.