Sunday: November 10, 2013

READ: 2 Chronicles 32-33

THINK:

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still.

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.

– Lord Byron

There is a powerful message in these two chapters. When the Assyrians attacked Hezekiah his first response was to pay them off and try to bargain. Only after he’d tried it all on his own did Hezekiah – who was a good and faithful king – cry out to God and trust that God could do what he couldn’t. In the same way, when the Assyrians attacked Manasseh he didn’t turn to God because he had long since abandoned him. Only after the nation was conquered and he was defeated did he turn back to God.

What is your first response when times of trouble come? Do you trust in God or forget about him and try to do it all on your own? Do you pray as a first option or a last option? What would your life look like if you trusted that every obstacle and enemy that you face in this world will one day be “melted like snow in the glance of the Lord?”

Your problems are never bigger than your God!

PRAY: Cast all of your cares upon God today. Thank him for being bigger than our problems and for being trustworthy. Thank him for never abandoning us to our own brokenness.