Enjoy Life, Enjoy God

SPREAD IT OUT

February 24, 2010

Sometimes life and circumstances threaten to swamp us, overwhelm us. I have learned the virtue and wisdom from an ancient king to spread all the stuff--my worries, my concerns, my hopes and fears--before the Lord.

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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.
- 2 Kings 19:14 TNIV  

King Hezekiah's messengers bring him the "Surrender or Die" demand from the Assyrian king. Hezekiah consults with his aides, but says, "I'm gonna go pray." He takes with him the letter from the Assyrian king and all of his other troubles, and he spreads them out on the floor of the temple for God to see. His prayer is magnificent (2 Kings 19:14-20). In essence:
--You alone are God.
--Yet the King of Assyria makes a good point--his army is undefeated.
--The gods of all the other nations did not deliver them.
--But they were not God, you are.
--Deliver us now.
--So we will trust you, I will trust you. Amen.
And so it came to pass; the last words of 2 Kings 19 records not only the humiliation of the Assyrian army, but the death of the Assyrian king.

So, my friend. Go spread it out before the Lord.
Joyfully,

Dale Patterson