I’m preaching a series entitled, “Faith That Pleases God.” The foundation scriptures are Hebrews 11:6 (it is impossible to please God without faith) and Romans 14:23 (whatever is not of faith is sin).
If we drill down through unbelief, we’ll usually find a trust problem. If I trust God, and if I trust His word, then faith is easy. If not, it’s hard.
It’s true in our natural lives, too. If I tell my wife that dinner will be ready at 7:00, she’ll be at the table with her appetite – if she trusts me and what I say. If she doesn’t, then at 6:30 she’ll be on the phone ordering pizza.
Do we trust God? Or do we trust the counterfeit?
Hezekiah was one who trusted God. Let’s unpack his story, which is found in 2 Kings 18 and 19.
Hezekiah became the king of Judah at age 25. He trusted in the Lord (2 Kings 18:5), and the Lord was with him so that he prospered (2 Kings 18:7).
The king of Assyria attacked Judah and captured some of the walled cities. Hezekiah tried to appease the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, by giving him gold and silver from the temple. Not surprisingly, it didn’t work.
Sennacherib was preparing to attack the seat of the government of Judah, Jerusalem. He sent a representative to taunt the people and to tempt them away from the Lord. He told them the gods of the other nations hadn’t been able to save the other nations from Sennacherib, and the Lord couldn’t either. He promised them that if they subjected themselves to Sennacherib, and gave him a gift, they would “eat from [their] own vine, and everyone from his own fig tree,” and that every one of them would come to another land of grain and new wine, bread, and vineyards. (2 Kings 18:31-32). He offered them a counterfeit blessing that looked deceptively like the Blessing of the Lord.
The people of Judah didn’t bite. They kept their mouths shut. Hezekiah went before the Lord, and asked Isaiah, the prophet of the Lord, for advice. Isaiah spoke a prophetic word that Sennacherib would be routed and killed.
Hezekiah and Judah could have bitten for the counterfeit blessing. But they didn’t. No, Hezekiah had read the accounts of how the Lord had saved his ancestor David. He’d read (and maybe sung) David’s psalms, many of which were written when David was under attack. Hezekiah knew the promises of the Torah, and what was promised him in the Blessing. He had a prophetic word from Isaiah. Hezekiah trusted the Lord and the written and prophetic word of the Lord.
Will we bite for the counterfeit blessing? Or will we hold out for the real Blessing of the Lord? Will we fall prey to taunts, even by fellow Christians, that God doesn’t really heal or prosper? Or will we stand on the promises of His Word?
Until you and I trust the Lord and His word, we will never really live by faith. And if we don’t live by faith, we’ll never please God.
Trust Him. He is faithful!