Isaiah 37:1 – 2 – 1 And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD. 2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
When Hezekiah the King faced an enemy that was much stronger than Israel, what was his reaction? His reaction was to humble himself before God. How did he show this humility? He did it by tearing his cloths which is a sign in the Jewish culture showing sorrow. Then he did not just pray but he went to them temple and prayed. You see in going directly to the temple was his showing that in the midst of this terrible situation he wanted to hear directly from God.
When you are facing rough times and when you have a situation that seems overwhelming – what do you do? Do you react with what one could call a godly reaction. As soon as we realize that we are in the middle of a difficult situation we should confess our sins which I posted about last week and then seek wisdom directly from God. These are two steps that are weapons that we have in dealing with spiritual enemies. You are never stronger than when you repent and seek the Lord.
Reactions speak volumes to a person’s character and to a person’s walk with God. Those people who at first sight of a problem that get angry or yell and scream and lose their minds in a situation are generally those who do not have a firm grip in their walk with God because that is not a God honoring way of dealing with any situation. Those who react by seeking to find out the whole truth of the matter, what part they played or did not play in it, those who seek God right away, those are the people who are showing a God honoring reaction. They are in a position to make a difference because God can and will use them. If you are angry, yelling, and over-reacting – you have just marginalized yourself and have put yourself in a position where you can not rightly speak for God or His ways. Again, your reactions to what life throws at you whether in your personal life, work life, or church life speak volumes to your character and relationship with Christ.
Let me ask you these tough questions – how do you react? Do you react to hard and difficult situations in anger or do you immediately seek God and His wisdom? I beg of you to begin to work hard on reacting in a Godly way because you will give opportunity for God to use the situation and you.
What do you think? Share your thoughts.
I sometimes react largely according to my spiritual state. If I feel or sense a closeness to god then i react differently than if i feel a distance. i find myself running to him, running from him, or running to myself i.e. trying to do it on my own.
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I think Bill nailed the answer… so I will echo him.
This Saturday I ran to Him. And He was there. I was so tired. Thank God there were the two of the most precious people of my life praying for me immediately. Praying He would take me on His wings and I felt right there that He took me on His wings. I was lifted up and one of them saw a picture of Jesus going to the Father when He was tired. So he told me to go to the Father and let myself re-load by His Spirit. What surprises me is that I always forget that He already know what I want to tell Him or I’m going through. All I need to do is go to Him.
I’m now giving everything to Him.