Learning From Their Life: Hezekiah (Part 2)
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available for free on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
We are continuing on in our
Learning From Their Life series where we examine the life of a person in the Bible and attempt to learn from their life, both the highs and the lows. This week we are looking into the life of Hezekiah, a King who ruled over the nation of Judah. This part two into our glimpse into Hezekiah’s life as I felt there was more to say about it than what we had time to cover in one devotional (
link to the first devotional on Hezekiah here). I don’t know if there is one person's story who has taught me more about prayer and that’s the part of Hezekiah’s life I want to dive into today.
THE START OF AN INCREDIBLE LEGACY
So as we learned last week, Hezekiah was a righteous man who sought to follow God in every area of his life, especially when it came to his leadership over the nation of Judah. Where many kings before him, his father included, led the nation astray into evil and idol worship, Hezekiah destroyed all of the idols he came across and then restored God’s temple into a place of worship. Hezekiah was truly starting to build the kind of incredible legacy we all would want to be known for. You can read more about Hezekiah's incredible acts of leadership, integrity and faithfulness as his story is told in the book of 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings, which I highly recommend you take the time to do. For now, here is how Hezekiah was described in the Bible:
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. He remained faithful to the LORD in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the LORD had given Moses. So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. 2 Kings 18:5-7
Everything in Hezekiah’s life seems to be going well. All of the idols in the land have been destroyed. People are once again worshipping the One True God throughout the nation. And the Lord had driven out the Assyrian army that sought to destroy Hezekiah and his people. All was well until all wasn’t. We pick up the details of what happened in 2 Kings 20, verses one to six:
About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: "This is what the LORD says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness." When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you." Then he broke down and wept bitterly. But before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, this message came to him from the LORD: "Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David.'" 2 Kings 2:1-6
HEZEKIAH PRAYED AND GOD CHANGED HIS MIND
God told Hezekiah of His plans for Hezekiah’s life, Hezekiah prayed fervently for God to change His mind and heal him and God honoured Hezekiah’s request. It would be wonderful if the story ended here, but that’s not what happens. If we keep reading through the account of King Hezekiah’s life we find out, although Hezekiah did live for another fifteen years, they weren’t good years.
BUT AS WE CAN SEE, THE EXTRA YEARS WERE NO BLESSING
During the extra fifteen years that Hezekiah received as an answer to his prayer, Hezekiah lets his pride get the best of him and by showing off he sets in motion a series of events that will eventually see his nation be taken captive by the Babylonians. During those same fifteen years Hezekiah also ends up fathering a son, Manasseh [Man-ah-sa], who will eventually become Hezekiah’s replacement on the throne. Instead of carrying on Hezekiah’s legacy and example of faithfulness to God, Manasseh turns out to be an evil man and an idol worshipper (2 Kings 21). In his wickedness, he actually went and undid most of the good things Hezekiah had done in his life, completely dismantling most of Hezekiah’s legacy. Showing us that God knew exactly what He was doing when He planned to let Hezekiah’s illness kill him fifteen years earlier than when he ended up dying. Yes Hezekiah got a longer life, but at what cost? Those fifteen extra years carried enormous consequences for both Hezekiah and the nation of Judah. So much so that I dare say that Hezekiah would have been much better off to have accepted God’s plan for his life and depart from this earth fifteen years earlier, with a great legacy intact.
LEARNING TO ACCEPT GOD'S WILL, NOT FIGHT IT
This is what I meant when I said we can learn so much about prayer from Hezekiah. His story shows us that instead of fighting God’s will in prayer, we would be better off accepting it. Does that mean we never pray a request? No. But it does mean that with every request we make sure to pray (and mean) “not my will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42)
Let’s face it, since God is the only one who knows our future, isn’t He the best person to make a judgement call on what is best for both us and the people in our lives? And that said, when the times come when He doesn’t answer a prayer in the way we were hoping for, we shouldn't fight His will but instead accept it, trusting that He truly is capable of working all things out for our good. (Romans 8)
I don’t know about you, but if I were in Hezekiah’s shoes, had I known what was ahead I would have rather lived fifteen less years and died with my legacy intact and the nation I led placed safely into someone’s hands who shared the same passion for God that I did. But Hezekiah couldn’t see the future and neither can we, which means that when we pray we need to learn to pray with open hands. Praying for a yes, but still trusting and accepting God’s will if a no comes.
WHEN "NO" MEANS "YES"
Sometimes God says "no" but in doing so He really is saying "yes". Not to our request, but
"Yes, I love you."
"Yes, I know what is best for you."
"Yes, I am with you always."
"Yes, you will see good in this."
Faith means praying for what we want, but accepting what God gives. Whether our prayer is a few more years on earth or less pain or more money or less heartache or __________ (fill in the blank). Let us learn to pray as Jesus did in the Lord's prayer, "May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6). And when God answers that prayer, let us receive it with open hands and an open mind, trusting that He alone knows what is best.
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