Scary Words
Words can be scary. Getting a bad report from the doctor. Learning that some bill is NOW due and if not, then well.... Hearing that your job is over isn't any fun. Hard discussions with a spouse or someone you are dating. The words used in these discussions can be threatening, can leave you feeling powerless. But God is bigger than words.
And He always will be. Look here at part of a familiar text found in Isaiah 37:5-7. It says, "So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”
Outside the walls was a large army from Assyria, one that had been destroying or capturing city after city on the way to Jerusalem. It surrounded them now, and it didn't take much for the Juden officials to realize that there werent any options left. They would starve eventually. They had no allies which could even HOPE to drive off the Assyrian army.
All the observable facts told them that the city WOULD fall. But...God. God was still bigger. Then the Assyrian official in charge outside began trash talking. He wasn't BLUFFING. He had EVERY reason to expect that this was merely a matter of time. If he could scare the Jews and get them surrender, this would be time and lives saved. If not, they would fall anyway. His trash talk, in the hearing of the soldiers on the walls, was not ineffective. But...God is bigger.
King Hezekiah spreads out the taunting letter before the Lord. He sends the question to Isaiah. What will happen? What should we do? (My paraphrase) Here was the reply...well, in Pastor Jeff style: "Don't worry about all those scary words. I've got this. Already a plan in motion to take care of business."
Events would show that this was true. 185,000 Assyrians die and the King returns home...where he is killed as well. God INDEED had this situation taken care of. He always does,
That last statement is a dangerous one, NOT because it is NOT true, but because it IS. We tend to like when it works out like this- with stunning victories and amazing miracles. I sure like that sort of result. But one way or another, God ALWAYS has issues well in hand. When we trust that, words become less scary.
Remember, God's got this.
And He always will be. Look here at part of a familiar text found in Isaiah 37:5-7. It says, "So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”
Outside the walls was a large army from Assyria, one that had been destroying or capturing city after city on the way to Jerusalem. It surrounded them now, and it didn't take much for the Juden officials to realize that there werent any options left. They would starve eventually. They had no allies which could even HOPE to drive off the Assyrian army.
All the observable facts told them that the city WOULD fall. But...God. God was still bigger. Then the Assyrian official in charge outside began trash talking. He wasn't BLUFFING. He had EVERY reason to expect that this was merely a matter of time. If he could scare the Jews and get them surrender, this would be time and lives saved. If not, they would fall anyway. His trash talk, in the hearing of the soldiers on the walls, was not ineffective. But...God is bigger.
King Hezekiah spreads out the taunting letter before the Lord. He sends the question to Isaiah. What will happen? What should we do? (My paraphrase) Here was the reply...well, in Pastor Jeff style: "Don't worry about all those scary words. I've got this. Already a plan in motion to take care of business."
Events would show that this was true. 185,000 Assyrians die and the King returns home...where he is killed as well. God INDEED had this situation taken care of. He always does,
That last statement is a dangerous one, NOT because it is NOT true, but because it IS. We tend to like when it works out like this- with stunning victories and amazing miracles. I sure like that sort of result. But one way or another, God ALWAYS has issues well in hand. When we trust that, words become less scary.
Remember, God's got this.
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