When God leaves us to ourselves
HIGHLIGHT
2 Chronicles 32:31 (ESV): 31 And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.
EXPLAIN
Hezekiah was a godly king and brought about a great revival of seeking after God to Judah. A great crisis occurred when the Assyrians invaded the land, but God brought about a supernatural deliverance after Sennacherib blasphemed God.
However, after only 15 years of reigning, Hezekiah became sick and God sent him word that he would die. Hezekiah wept bitterly and God determined to grant him 14 more years.
Sometime later, envoys from Babylon arrived and Hezekiah foolishly let them see everything in his kingdom. God then sent word that in the future, Babylon would conquer Judah.
Our text explains that when the Babylonians came, God did not proactively intervene because he wanted to test Hezekiah to know what was in his heart.
APPLY
The thought that God might leave us to our own devices is terrifying. Yet we must wonder if God does this more often than we might want to think.
Yet we know God’s good and faithful character. How might have things been different if Hezekiah had sought God for wisdom when the Babylonian envoys had first arrived?
Similarly, we should proactively seek God for wisdom and guidance instead of waiting for him to intervene in our lives.
RESPOND
Heavenly Father, please teach me now the habit of seeking you always so that when times of testing come my first response is to look to you. Amen.