- Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.” Isaiah 39:6-8 – The heart of the king here is what stood out to me today. He gets word that all His belongings and even some of his own sons will be taken away from him. Yet what was his response? That all this was good and chose to be grateful over the words of peace he heard and not bitter over the words of future struggles. He was grateful and praiseworthy to God, even when what he heard wasn’t all great. We can all grow at learning to see the praiseworthy side of the situations we are in. Maybe at first all that you’re going through seems to have nothing to praise God for. What we learn though from our passage today is that there always is. Seek it out in the struggle, even pray for help to see it, then once found, let that praise be loud. Have confidence there is always something to praise God for in every situation. For if He is in it with you, then there’s something in that struggle worth shouting a praise over. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1240
- He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.” Isaiah 39:4 – In the fifteen years that God blessed Hezekiah with, we see the King of Babylon sent an envoy with gifts as a present to Hezekiah to celebrate his recovery. As one commentary stated, this would have been a big deal for the small kingdom of Judah to be recognized by the growing superpower Babylon. Hezekiah must have felt very special. So much so that he showed the Babylonians that came everything in his possession, nothing was left out. We can see though from Isaiah’s words to the Hezekiah, and the future Babylonian invasion, that this was not a wise move on the king’s part. When we also look at this with a spiritual lens, it becomes increasingly clearer why this was unwise. “Babylon” is often connected to sin and the power of Satan. Hezekiah allowed our spiritual enemy access to his life, to see everything, know everything, and be within everything. Let us not find ourselves allowing the enemy such access to our lives. For certain he will try to gain a foothold in areas of your life. Truthfully, he wants more than a foothold, he wants to sit on your living room couch, put his feet up, and raid your fridge. He wants control of your life, but we only have one Master. Be wise then how Satan and sin is being allowed into the different aspects of your life. How is sin finding its way into your family life? Your friends? Your entertainments? The more we invite the enemy into these areas of our life, the more he sees and the more control he is given. Instead, allow and welcome the Spirit of the Lord in every area of your life, giving Him the ultimate control of such things. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2706
Daily DEVO 