Have Mercy on Us

How do we respond when things happen beyond of our control?  Isaiah 36-39 is such a great story, even outside its considerable spiritual significance.  It’s a story of pride, Sennacherib’s and Hezekiah’s. It’s a story of smack talk, like Babe Ruth pointing to the fence, proudly and confidently knowing where he would hit the ball. Except in the case of the Biblical story, Sennacherib struck out and was sent packing, eventually to his own death.  It’s a story of mistakes and forgiveness: Hezekiah’s. It’s a story of God, who hears His people, who listens, who loves, who forgives (again and again) and a God who will not be mocked (by Sennacherib or Hezekiah).

Grace, according to Dallas Willard, is God doing in us what we cannot do on our own.  Willard continues that Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning.  Hezekiah worked to prevent the Assyrian siege: he built water works, he trained soldiers, he may have even fortified the walls of the city.  But make no mistake, Hezekiah did not win the battle over Assyria, God did.  Hezekiah did not defeat Sennacherib, God did.  So when the envoys of Babylon come to greet Hezekiah and he shows them his treasure house, Hezekiah forgot one very important point: the treasure belongs to God. The victory belongs to God. God is the king and all glory and honor go to Him.

Hezekiah was a “good” king who did “what was right in the sight of the Lord” by tearing down the Asherah poles and high places.  Sadly, he did not finish the race.  He lived an additional fifteen years because he humbled himself before the Lord. Still, J.D. Greear writes, Hezekiah had passed the test of adversity (hoping in God alone when he was outmanned more than 20 to 1 by Sennacherib), but he failed the test of prosperity.
He shows us that it is so easy to receive the blessings of God and make them all about us. God blesses us, miraculously, with life, with prosperity, with family, with salvation from sin . . . and all we can then think about is our comfort, our needs, our glory.”

I confess that I often pass the test of adversity, only to fail in prosperity.  It’s easy for me to think that I am still alive after 12 years of cancer because of something I have done: pray, eat right, take supplements, live righteously??!!?  I must confess before God each day that I am only alive by His grace and mercy.  I must confess my pride and arrogance.  We must all look beyond ourselves and our immediate needs to the world around us.  We must look beyond our own current circumstances to be the light in a dark, dark world.

May God have mercy on us.