God is our Fortress

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. . . . 
But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” . . . .  As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim… and Shebna… and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” 
. . . . Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’ ” (2 Kings 18:28–19:7)

Sometimes I say, “We have a big God” and someone else responds with, ‘yes, but” or “What if” and I want to weep. If the need is too large for Almighty God then why bother worshipping Him? Would it not be better to admit this lack of faith and allow God to defend Himself?
The story continues:

And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.” (2 Kings 19:15–19)

His prayer of faith is faith-building for me. I know as I read it that God will answer, and He did:

“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” (2 Kings 19:32–34)

Jesus, it is important to remember that You answer prayer for Your own sake, not just mine. It is not bad to be known as a person of prayer, but far more important that Your people know You as One who hears and answers to show Himself to us, that we know Your power and Your faithfulness. It is when we see You as You are that You transform us by grace to be more like You. Help all of us to confess our doubts, then sweep them away so we can pray with confidence that You will hear our cries and take care of our needs.

How big is my God?

 

(A long to-do list and a late meeting = forgetting to post this last night. It is for May 17. Sorry.)

Today’s devotional offers this first line: “Pessimism will blind you to the sufficiency of God’s resources.” The explanation is commonly known: an optimist sees a glass half full, while a pessimist sees it half empty. In other words, one sees opportunities and the other sees obstacles.

In the kingdom of God, a song describes these attitudes this way: “When all I see is the battle, You see my victory. When all I see is the mountain, You see a mountain moved.” For me, pessimism is lack of faith in God while optimism is the attitude that nothing is too difficult for Him.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21)

One translation says, “He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or imagine.” One NT illustration is Philip. Jesus was teaching thousands and as night came, they were hungry. Jesus asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” This disciple replied, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for every one to receive a little.” In pessimism, his thought was, We don’t have enough resources in our whole savings account to buy enough food for a group this size! Lack of faith makes all things too difficult, even with God in our midst.

However, this was merely a test which Philip should have passed. He’d seen water turned to wine but like most of us, quickly forgot the glimpse he’d experienced of God’s power. He soon saw it again when Jesus took five barley loaves and two fish and fed the crowd.

I can be like Philip. What helps me is asking myself, How big is my God? MacArthur says we all have times when pessimism robs us of seeing Him move mountains. I tend to call it ‘lack of faith’ rather than pessimism. God is not stumped by the obstacles that stump me. His grace and power are sufficient for all issues and problems.

What I do notice is it is not only the ‘size’ of God that gets forgotten, but His purpose. He says in Romans 8:28-29 that He uses ALL things in my life to transform me into the likeness of His Son. Humanly, I tend to think that trusting God will mean total comfort and prosperity, but how often do those goals conflict with reality. No Christian should try to pray trials away when the Word of God says this:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

Seeing trials as dreadful things is not pessimism; it is lack of faith in God who is using them for my good! Optimism is realizing the goodness of God in making me “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10) and using trials as His tools for that process.

I cannot claim to be joyful when troubles come, but He is teaching me to confess my lack of faith as sin. Instead, He wants me to turn to Him with thanksgiving, realizing that even when I cannot see what He is doing, He has a far better outcome for my life and my outlook on life than I have now. I need to hang in there, pray for grace and strength, and choose patient steadfast over pleading with Him to put down His tools and leave me the way I am.

PRAY: Lord, forgive my grumbling and lack of faith when life hands me sour grapes. Enable me to evaluate who is in charge and rejoice that You never fail and You never stop loving me and wanting the best for me — even when that best is uncomfortable or not what I would have picked. You are a big God, able to do more than I will ever imagine. That ought to bring rejoicing to my heart and praise to my lips, and certainly take my focus off the problems and replace the poor me that so easily arrives with that extraordinary joy that only You can give.

RECALL: Read Numbers 13-14. What did ten of the spies report? How did the two others tell what they saw? Which ones did the people believe? In 14:11, how did God diagnose their problem? What did Moses do? What happened after that?