Read 2 Kings 18:1 through 20:21
Bad news often comes in the form of a letter. I once got a frightening letter from the Internal Revenue Service. I read, I wept, I prayed, I appealed, and I won. That letter was a snap compared to other letters. Some have opened letters from their spouses, letters that amounted to final notice on a marriage and a family. I’ve walked into homes where a doctor’s letter lay isolated on a table, a letter announcing the presence of a dreaded disease. In times of war, a letter that begins, “We regret to inform you…” forever changes the life of the soldier’s mother and father who receive it.
The letter Hezekiah received was just as devastating, but Hezekiah showed us how to deal with bad news.
“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).
Rather spread it around the kingdom, he spread it out before the Lord. Before he called a staff meeting, he called on the Lord. God knows our troubles before the letters are posted. How it must please Him when we seek Him first.
Thought for Today:
The disappointment of bad news is always exceeded by the faithful goodness of God.
(c) by Gospel Publishing House, 1445 N Boonville Ave., Springfield, Missouri, 65802