Laying it all before the Lord!

 

I told someone the other day, "The older I get, the less I care what people think about me. They can insult me, call me names, treat me like dirt, and it doesn't bother me!" And I truly mean it! There was a time when I was devastated by what people said about me. In 2017, all of this changed. I faced some public humiliation that greatly affected my life. As I searched my heart the summer of 2017 and the subsequent two years until I retired, I realized it truly did not matter what people thought about me. The only thing that mattered was pleasing God. I retired from teaching to remove any barriers that kept me from serving wherever God called me. I survived the name-calling, the back-biting, the pettiness, and the public humiliation. God allowed those things in my life to point me in the right direction. To this day, I do not hold a grudge against those people that were against me in 2017. God used it all for his glory. 

Today, I was reading the continuing saga of one of my favorite Old Testament people, King Hezekiah. King Sennacherib was loud and arrogant. He and his Assyrian Army were poised to destroy another nation, Judah, like it had done so many times before. Hezekiah had done everything he could to prepare for battle against his formidable foe. After facing the taunts and jeers of his enemies, he finally did this:

"After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord's Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: ...... It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians COULD destroy them. They were not gods at all - only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. Now, O Lord God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God." (Isaiah 37:14-15,18-20, emphasis added)

In the summer of 2017 I laid it all before the Lord, I cried out for him to speak and to protect me. He responded to my prayer. Hezekiah got these words from the Lord, through his prophet Isaiah,

"Say to your master, 'This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian King's messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword." (Isaiah 37:5-7)

No, my enemies weren't killed. But, God took care of everything. NOW, my life has been blessed in ways I could have never imagined. And one of my greatest blessings is the freedom from persecution. Oh, I am sure there are those who stand against me. I am sure there are those who curse my name, and speak poorly about me, and they are glad I am out of their lives. But God protected my heart from those enemies. He delivered me just like he delivered Hezekiah. The Assyrian Army was defeated. Not an arrow was shot toward Jerusalem. Not one of King Hezekiah's soldiers died in battle. 

I praise the Lord and give God all the glory. Thank you, Lord; let all the kingdoms of the earth know that you alone, O Lord, are God!"

Are you in a battle for your heart and soul? Are you being attacked like Hezekiah? Are you facing impossible odds at work, at school, or within your family? Lay it all before the Lord, and he will respond. He will heal your heart, and he will rescue you! To God be the Glory, great things he has done!