And he waited...

 And he waited...

I was reading a quick devotional this morning  before getting into your Bible reading ...on waiting... that hard word to hear and harder yet, at times, to do....

The author wrote “While you wait, I want you to embrace the blessing of My presence. Just be with me.” (Cherie Hill)

Waiting in God’s presence, embracing that moment in time...or those hours or days, weeks, years....waiting ....

So as I opened up the Scriptures for today, King Hezekiah was the main character...ruling in Judah...battles all around, being ridiculed by conquering rulers from afar...

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. 

His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 

He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan. ) Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. 

There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 

He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 

And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. 

He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory. 

The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 

But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 

“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! 

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’

2 Kings 18:1-8,19-22,31-32 

Hezekiah waited, he sought counsel from the Prophet Isaiah...through all the tormenting words of ruler who would besiege his country...

Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’” 

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. 

Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “ Lord , the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. 

You have made heaven and earth. 

Give ear,  Lord, and hear; open your eyes,  Lord , and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 

Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.” 

“This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: “This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 

Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 

For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. 

“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. “

That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

2 Kings 19:6-7,14-19,29-31,35-36

The Lord delivered ....Hezekiah waited, took his requests and laid them before Him in the House of the Lord...and victory was given...

It is an awesome recap of the time...

Taking counsel, waiting to see how the Lord will work...hard tasks for me to do...I want to move ahead, getting things done, out of the way, so I can move on to another project...

I have a hard time “embracing “ those waiting times...but, when I do, the reward is great...

God moves...doing more than I could ask or imagine...His way...

Thank YOU....