Most of us could probably answer this next question with a moderate level of ease: When was the last time you were truly desperate? Most of us can think of a time when we felt that emotion. Whether it was something as deep as a parent with a hurting child or something as simple as a test we forgot to study for in high school, we know what desperation feels like. Scripture is often powerful in the moments of real life that we we so easily relate to, like what we see in our passage today.
Hezekiah is one of my favorite people in the Bible. Not because of some deed he did like slaying a giant or building a big boat, but because of a simple desperate humility that I know I often lack but is so fundamental to the life of Jesus followers. Under the threat of destruction by the Assyrian king, a threat not made idly or without the ability to follow through, Hezekiah does the only thing he knows will help, he prayed (19:14). And God heard his prayer and answered it. Hezekiah becomes ill, the type you don’t recover from Isaiah tells him, and once again turns to God in desperation through prayer. And again God is faithful to answer.
Hezekiah’s story is so great because we see something in Hezekiah that shows us something deep and beautiful about our God. He longs to love and care for his people. God is faithful to hear and to respond. God is not distant and aloof. He does not hide his face from us as the psalmist says. Whether your day of desperation is today, yesterday, or a far distant tomorrow, know that you have a God who loves and cares for you and is waiting to hear from you not only in desperation but even now.
VC Devotionals 