Word of Encouragement (3/10/2021)
We are talking about proper stewardship of God’s answer to our prayer. We should not just pray for things. When God answers our prayer, we should be grateful and, in gratitude, enjoy what God has granted to us. But we have to keep in mind that there are right ways and wrong ways to enjoy God’s blessings. We all know how easy it is for us to turn God’s blessings into idols. Obviously, that is not a good thing.
Listen to what God said to the corrupt priests of Malachi’s day: “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart” (Mal. 2:1-2). We see that one way God would punish the evil priests was to turn the blessings into curses. But if we are not careful, we can do that ourselves! When we get so enamored with God’s blessings that we grow distant from God, that would be tragic and detrimental. Idols may be attractive and pleasant (at least for a time) but they are bound to destroy us if we should bow down to them.
Few incidents in the Bible demonstrate the importance of properly stewarding God’s blessings than King Hezekiah’s prayer and what happened afterward. Hezekiah became deathly ill and God sent Prophet Isaiah to tell him to set his house in order before dying (2 Kings 20:1). When Hezekiah wept bitterly and asked for God’s mercy, God extended his life by fifteen years with a promise that He would defend Judah from the Assyrians (2 Kings 20:2-6). So far so good.
But something terrible happened soon after that. Having heard that Hezekiah had been sick, Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with a letter and gifts. Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them all the treasures of his house and kingdom. God again sent Isaiah to him to rebuke him for this foolishness and what the cost would be: all of his treasures would be taken away from his house at the hands of the Babylonians, including some of his sons (2 Kings 20:12-18). This makes us wonder if it had been better if Hezekiah’s life was not extended! Why did this happen?
It seems like Hezekiah became proud in his jubilation over his new lease on life. That’s why he foolishly showed all his treasures to the Babylonian envoy, which probably made Judah a very desirable prey in the eyes of the Babylonian king. We can also see how selfish Hezekiah was. His response to Isaiah’s dreadful words is quite shocking: “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days” (2 Kings 20:19)? He was all tears when he was about to die. But he couldn’t care less about what would happen to his kingdom and his sons once he was gone.
We can see that a sure way to turn God’s blessings into curses is to live with pride and selfishness. We need to examine our hearts, don’t we? When God blesses us by answering our prayers, do we humble ourselves before Him in true and lasting gratitude and maintain our prayerful posture, or do we become proud as if we are self-sufficient and stop praying? Let us pray for humility to know how fragile and dependent we are on God so that we will pray without ceasing and walk with Him always. Therein lies our true happiness and blessing. That is why Jesus died to reconcile us to God and live in constant communion with Him.