What do you do when you face the impossible?
[Tweet “What do you do when you face the impossible? @revtrev”]Today we look at the story I knew we’d focus on when we started to look at the lives of the Kings of Judah.
It’s a big one. Right up there with the parting of the Red Sea. We just don’t have the account in
2 Chronicles 32:1-23
Also told in…
2 Kings 18:17-35 ; Isaiah 36:2-20
We also have it told in…
Herodutus; Josephus
And we have the account from the enemy as well.
We’ll get to all of that in a bit.
I want to tell you what happened and then focus on something we can apply in our own lives.
2 Chronicles 32:1
After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.
That doesn’t seem right does it?
Guess what? We live in a fallen world where God will doesn’t always get done like it does in heaven. IF it did, why would Jesus teach us to pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven?” He taught us that because we have a part in seeing God’s will done…
…but sometimes, even when we do our part, like Hezekiah did, bad things happen.
Don’t worry… it’s not the end of the story.
Who was Sennacherib?
King of Assyria – “Might makes right…at least for a while” Short lived empire (less than 100 years) They were brutal. They’d stick people on spikes and let the point work it’s way up to their heart.
BTW – History shows us administration is the key to lasting empires. Rome could be defeated time and time again, but they’d always have another army and could move it quickly along their roads. Assyria was just brutal. They ended the northern kingdom and were looking to end the southern kingdom as well.
Taylor Prism – Sennacherib account http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sennacherib
conquered 46 fortified cities…Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape… Then upon Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and 300 talents of silver, and diverse treasures, a rich and immense booty… All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government.
Now 2 Kings tells us about the 30 talents of gold and 300 talents of silver, but it’s clear after that Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem. BTW…we don’t have any Assyrian account of them ever being defeated. It’s only the Bible that tells failures along with victories.
Listen to the challenge the Assyrians made Hezekiah…
2 Chronicles 32:9-19
Note verse 20
2 Chronicles 32:20
King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.
We have the prayer in both Isaiah and 2 Kings.
2 Kings 19:15-19
Hezekiah prayed. Isaiah gave a prophecy, promising what would happen and we read the rest in 2 Chronicles:
2 Chronicles 32:21-22
We see in 2 Kings 19:25 and Isaiah 37:36 that it was 185,000 assyrians killed by the angel of the Lord.
That’s not something Sennacherib would write home about. God turned it around in the middle of the night, in the height of the crisis. It is just as impressive as a path through the sea.
Hezekiah faced an impossible situation and he and Isaiah cried out in prayer.
[Tweet “Hezekiah AND Isaiah cried out in prayer. @revtrev”]You and I will face impossible situations. We probably have in the past. We will in the future.
[Tweet “You and I will face impossible situations. @revtrev”]We can face impossibilities in relationships.
We can face impossibilities in finances.
We can face impossibilities in health.
Even when we’ve done everything right, we can face impossibilities.
When we haven’t been doing everything right, we can expect to face impossibilities.
Did you catch what Hezekiah did?
He AND Isaiah cried out to God.
In all the times I’ve read this story, this is the first time I’ve caught this. So I think it’s important for us to look at.
Do you have someone to pray with?
How many of you have someone you either regularly meet with or have known so long you can call whenever you face an impossible situation?
Currently I have two people I regularly meet with…
Why don’t we all have someone to pray with?
Stormie Omartin shares some of the reasons why Christians don’t pray and how to overcome it. {Video} You need to have an account at RightNowMedia.org to view this.
When we think of praying with others, it helps us to think of others first.
You have wisdom to share.
The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. Isaiah 50:4 (NIV)
You have experience to share.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
You have friendship to share.
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)
You remember what I said about Assyrians not being great at administration? They didn’t plan for what was ahead.
The time to start looking for a prayer partner is before you need it.
Noah started building the ark before any rain fell on the earth.
For those of you have have one, great, nurture and develop that relationship.
For those of you who don’t have one, you can start by praying about a prayer partner.
Maybe you’re looking for mentor, someone who can share their experience?
Maybe you’re looking for someone to invest your life in?
Maybe it’s a friend, someone who will bless you as much as you bless them?
My experience is you don’t know which is right for this season of your life until you take it to God in prayer.
[Tweet “Pray for a prayer partner. @revtrev”]You want to choose a person of character over someone with experience.
Over time, you’ll want to trust this person with your struggles. You don’t want someone who will abuse that trust.
[Tweet “Find a person of character to be a prayer partner. @revtrev”]Have grace for the process.
Understand it takes time to develop transparency and deeper accountability.
[Tweet “Have grace for the process of connecting with a prayer partner. @revtrev”]When you face the impossible, you need to have someone who has your back and who isn’t afraid to point out blind spots to you. God has created us to be in community and community is so much more than seeing the back of someone’s head every week. It takes time, it takes risk…but it’s well worth it….
Watch Why you should consider a Prayer Partner for more information
Pastors, do you want to easily make slides like the ones you see in the blog post? Check out Logos 6 Today.
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