Sometimes it feels as if life “piles on” the troubles and problems. That was the case with Hezekiah who was battling a life threatening illness during the same period of time that he was dealing with the Assyrians who were advancing on Jerusalem.
- Hezekiah was sick with a life-threatening disease.
- Isaiah delivers a message to Him that he should get his house in order and prepare to die.
- Hezekiah prays to God and asks Him for healing.
- God hears/answers his prayer and gives Hezekiah an additional 15 years to live.
- He asks Isaiah if there will be a sign given him confirming his healing.
- God moves the sun back 10 degrees on the sundial.
Some believe this was a local miracle and others believe it was a worldwide miracle (“...in the land” can mean either: cf. 2 Chronicles 32:31).
- A traditional remedy was applied to Hezekiah’s boil, but it was God who healed him.
- Hezekiah composes a psalm of praise (Isaiah 38:9-20) to sing to God in thanksgiving.
Sometimes we “survive” not by DOING anything special, but by KNOWING some special things. What we don’t know can hurt us! Understanding certain truths enables us to survive through the many crises in our lives.
Things to remember:
1. God wants us to enjoy life and live it to the fullest.
- Hezekiah wanted to live, not die. That’s the desire of us all, if we’re honest about it. Fundamentally, there’s nothing wrong with that desire.
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
J. Vernon McGee tells the true, but comical story about a crisis moment in his life: “When I was taken to the hospital, I had no idea what the outcome of my illness would be. The nurse had to help me get into bed because I was so weak. I was not physically weak—I was frightened; I am a coward. She asked, ‘Are you sick?’ I replied, ‘No. I am scared to death!’ She was a Christian nurse, and she smiled at that. I asked her to leave me alone for awhile, and I turned my face to the wall, just as Hezekiah did, and I cried out to God. I told Him that I did not want to die—and I didn’t want to die.
“...Well, an acquaintance wrote me a letter in which she said, ‘I am not going to pray that you get well because I know that you are ready to go and be with the Lord. I am praying that He will take you home.’ I got an answer back to her in a hurry. I said, ‘Now look here. You let the Lord handle this. Don’t try and tell Him how I feel. I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to live as long as I can...’”
2. God alone holds the power of life and death in His sovereignty.
- Job had no idea of the events going on in the heavenlies, but Satan had no ability to inflict pain on Job beyond what God allowed.
- James/Peter met different fates, but God was sovereign over both situations. (Acts 12)
Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints. (Psalm 116:15) i.e., No one touches God’s saints until He says so!
3. God is always looking and listening whenever we are praying. (2 Kings 20:5)
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:16-18)
And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. (2 Chronicles 16:12)
4. God can use traditional means to work supernatural miracles. (2 Kings 20:7)
- We should think about doctors as ministers of God to the sick. (ex. Romans 13)
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (James 5:14-15)
There are a number of reasons for understanding this application of oil as medicinal rather than sacramental. The [Greek word for “anoint”] is not the usual word for sacramental or ritualistic anointing. James could have used the [sacramental word] if that had been what he had in mind...Furthermore, it is a well-documented fact that oil was one of the most common medicines of biblical times...Josephus (Antiq. XVII, 172 [vi. 5]) reports that during his last illness Herod the Great was given a bath in oil in hopes of effecting a cure. The papyri, Philo, Pliny, and [a prominent ancient Roman physician-Golen] all refer to the medicinal use of oil. [The physician] described it as “the best of all remedies for paralysis.” ...It is evident, then, that James is prescribing prayer and medicine. --Expositor's Bible Commentary
5. God is teaching us spiritual lessons whenever we are suffering. (Isaiah 38:17)
Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word...It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. (Psalm 119:67,71)
6. God wants us to praise Him in life or in death. (Isaiah 38:9-20)
Conclusion:
Sometimes the disasters of life seem too big to handle. But then we hear of those who survive.
“A man who has been pulled alive from the rubble of a marketplace in Port-au-Prince may have been trapped since the devastating earthquake struck the Haitian capital 28 days earlier on, January 12, 2010.
.
“The 28-year-old, identified as Evans Muncie, was found under the remains of the Croix Bossal market where he sold rice. He had not been seen since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake leveled the city killing over 200,000 people.
"Mr Muncie was discovered by people who had been digging at the marketplace. He was taken to an American field hospital in Port-au-Prince where he was treated for severe dehydration and malnutrition…
"Despite the Haitian Government calling for an end to search and rescue operations on January 23, survivors continued to be pulled from the rubble in the following days.”
The next time it seems like life is hopeless or that problems are overwhelming, remember that God is bigger than anything you face.
