Hezekiah

I love the truths revealed to us in the Old Testament. All four of my children have Hebrew names of faithful, godly men from generations past. A study of Hezekiah in Isaiah 38 and 39 convicted my heart of some fleshly responses that need to be purified from my life. Maybe this will minister to you, too....

Hezekiah was the king of Judah and was a godly man. He loved the Lord, and purged the land of idolatry. He was miraculously delivered from life-threatening sickness. However, there came a time that the Lord tested Him; actually two times, He was tested once and passed, he was tested again and failed. Those of us who know the testing fires of God have learned that He sends the pain for a purpose, one being to create a greater dependence on Him, and after removing the fire from our lives, He will test the gold to see how pure it is. Let's look....

In Isaiah 36 and 37, Assyria tried to invade Judah. Hezekiah cried out to God to intervene and God sent glorious deliverance. But in Isaiah 39, the test is a little closer to home. Envoys from Babylon came to the king, with gifts and compliments and smiles. Hezekiah is not ready for this test that comes in such a friendly fashion. Without seeking the counsel of God, He welcomes the ambassadors into his house and shows them all his treasures, "the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointments, and all his armory-all that was found among his treasures". Hezekiah was seduced by the attention, not realizing that the king of Babylon had a political agenda to use Hezekiah to strengthen their ties with Assyria. God used the right circumstances to surface pride in his heart. The attention and approval of man took priority over dependence on God. The main symptom of spiritual pride is sincere decision making without consulting God.

This story speaks to me about the temptation to relax our dependence on God in the presence of the familiar. Like Hezekiah, it is easy to rely on God in the threat of an enemy army, but the greatest test of our hearts comes in the presence of friends and loved ones. Do we engage the same dependence on God in our relationships with our husbands, parents, children, leaders, friends? If not, we may have developed "soul ties" with those whom we desire love and acceptance from. In other words, we give part of ourselves to man, when our entire hearts should belong to God.

It is not an easy thing, but God wants us to lose confidence and dependence on the flesh, and rely on Him implicitly for every area of decision in our lives. He wants to lead and counsel us on every issue that comes to our hearts, whether blatantly obvious or deceptively subtle.

From my journal:
Lord, forgive me for grieving Your heart by giving my dependence away to anyone other than You. I confess my fear of man, which Your word says is a snare. I realize that fear of man's rejection causes me to allow access to the tender, vulnerable places of my heart, which belong to You. Like Hezekiah, I've allowed my treasures- my gifts, talents, anointing, trust- to be made available to those whom I desire approval from, without seeking You first. Your acceptance and approval is all I need. Be the King of my heart.