Hezekiah was one who followed God to a greater degree than most kings before him. His story begins in 2 Kings 18. He not only follows God and does what is right, but he tears down the high places. He finally got rid of the bronze serpent Moses had used in the wilderness.

There is this great tribute to his work:

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, Israel’s God. There was no one like him among all of Judah’s kings—not before him and not after him. 6 He clung to the Lord and never deviated from him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had commanded Moses. (2 Kings 18:5-6, CEB)

But Hezekiah doesn’t always get it right. When Sennacherib marched on Jerusalem after defeating the northern kingdom, Hezekiah immediately caved to them. He bribed Sennacherib to go away!

Shockingly, that wasn’t enough and the Assyrians showed back up.

Hezekiah finally got fed up and took the whole matter to God. He actually took a letter from the Assyrians and laid it before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14). He got serious in seeking the Lord’s help.

We have our own times when we are on top of the world and ready to take on any challenge. It’s summer camp season, so every week we will have youth coming home from camp ready to take on Satan in every corner of the world! Two weeks later… well… not so much…

We all have our moments. We are full of faith. Then, the enemy blindsides us and we find ourselves caving in to what the enemy demands.

The grace of God is GREAT. The enemy WILL show back up again, only giving us yet another opportunity to trust God! We need to take those moments to get back on track and find ourselves in the presence of God once again. He is gracious. He WILL hear!

Do not let one defeat tear away the next opportunity to call out on God!