trust God – Page 12 – Be Still…

2 Kings 19:1-19 – Beware of the Weeds

I love how the title of this section in the New Living Translation tells us that Hezekiah is seeking the Lord. That alone is a message we can cling to for ourselves today. Remember we don’t need to be in dire need of rescue to seek the Lord. He is waiting to hear from us every day. But in this reading, Hezekiah’s predicament seemed to be dire. He felt threatened.

The bully king of Assyria had gotten into Hezekiah’s head. All reason and trust in God seemed to have fled from Hezekiah, and he felt desperate. Have you ever felt like everything was crashing in on you, being overwhelmed by your circumstances? Perhaps someone has tried to undermine your faith. I’m pretty sure Hezekiah was questioning his own belief system while feeling the responsibility for his people.

2 Kings 18:1-12 – A Breath of Fresh Air

Read 2 Kings 18:1-12

Didn’t you breathe a sigh of relief when you learned that finally someone had destroyed the pagan shrines? Hezekiah is a king we should remember and be pleased with, like God was. “So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did.” Success leaves clues.

It’s hard to imagine that with a father like Ahaz, Hezekiah could be so true to God. But then again, I’ve known grown children today who have gone out of their way to live their lives differently than their parents did. They wanted their children to have it different than they experienced. Even though I had loving parents myself, there were still things I wanted to do differently for my kids. But the legacy of faithfulness is one that I want to pass on for generations to come!

2 Kings 10:1-17 – Taking God Seriously

Read 2 Kings 10:1-17

hands open and pointing toward lighted cross

Jehu is taking his job very seriously. While I’m not a fan of killing people, I am a fan of following God’s command. Sometimes God calls us to do things we feel unprepared to accomplish. In Jehu’s case, he had been prepared as an army commander. Death is not foreign to him.

Jehu has been very methodical in his elimination of Ahab’s family. Of course, he had to take out the king first to have authority. The queen would be next because of her approval rating with the people. Now it was time for Ahab’s family. I don’t know about you, but I was surprised to learn Ahab had seventy children tucked safely away. Seventy! Let that number sink in a bit.

2 Kings 6:24-7:2 – Drama in Samaria (Part One)

Read 2 Kings 6:24-7:2

Some time must have passed between our last reading and the events that are unfolding here. You’ll recall Elisha had made quite a statement with Aramean leadership, and they “stayed away from the land of Israel.” But those memories soon faded, and now we see Israel’s neighbor to the northeast coming to attack again (imagine present day Syria).

War is never a good thing, even worse when it causes a famine. I’m not a fan of what we read about happening to the two women and neither was the king! I can’t even imagine having the discussion much less acting on such a desperate solution. Clearly, these women had lost hope and were not relying on God.

2 Kings 4:38-44 – From Hunger to Plenty

Read 2 Kings 4:38-44

Here Elisha performs two more miracles on God’s behalf, this time to make things right for his prophets. Our setting is during a time of famine. I can’t say that I’ve lived through a famine because of the present-day grocery store. But I can imagine before we had such convenience, weather patterns and food shortages in a particular area would be devastating.

I’m not sure the gourds were “poisonous” or deadly, as some of the stew was consumed. It’s more likely that the wild gourds would lead to stomach upset and be bitter or foul tasting. The miracle may have simply been the wisdom God gave Elisha to know how to fix it with a little flour. Rather than have a pot of ruined stew, Elisha made it edible so they would not go hungry. (Remember the salt from Chapter 2?)