Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

May 11, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO HELP ME WHEN I AM DESPERATE (part 2)

II Kings 20:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore

“I Beseech thee”. This Hebrew word “beseech”  means “Oh now! I pray, I beg”. If there has ever been a desperate prayer, this is it. ‘God, I beg you now.’ When was the last time we were desperate? How long has it been since our prayer was a “desperate begging” to God?

Hezekiah had already been very physically ill for a period of time when Isaiah comes to him with the bad news. All of Hezekiah’s strength had been slowly slipping away everyday of his sickness, and then the prophet shows up to really encourage him. (Insert sarcastic laugh right there) While I am joking, I must admit that sometimes it feels that way to us pastors. We are just trying to obey God and preach what God has impressed upon our heart. It is a very heavy responsibility. Then we preach and folks act as if we are attacking them, or kicking them when they are down. If we are going to preach the “whole council of God”, it cannot always be maple syrup and whip cream. When Isaiah came and told what God had said to tell him, it was not good news. But it was the truth! I don’t read here that Hezekiah became upset with Isaiah, he just took it up with God. It sure would be great if every time the Truth was preached, people would “take it up” with God instead of “taking it out” on the messenger. I encourage you, if your pastor does his best to preach the truth, the good, the bad, the encouraging, and the convicting, thank God that you have a pastor like that. It’s not easy to get up to tell the truth sometimes. But it is still the Truth.

Here is Hezekiah, sick, and tired, and dying. Sounds as if this is the making of a desperate situation. Are you sick, tired, worn out, burdened, discouraged, at whit’s end, confused, or just received discouraging news? Are you desperate? Well if so, I have good news. That is exactly where God wants you to be. Before you give up, beseech God. Before you quit, pray anyway. Satan will jump on you when you are weary, but remember what Paul said when he was desperate:

* II Corinthians 12:   8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.