“You have six months to a year to live. Not much can be done for you. Sorry!” proclaimed a surgeon to his cancer patient.
None of us ever want to hear these words, but Glen, a close friend of mine did hear those words just a few days ago.
What Glen did after hearing the surgeon’s message was a game changer for him and can be a valuable lesson for all of us.
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” (2 Kings 20:1 NASB)
King Hezekiah was the King of Judah who did what was right in the sight of the Lord, much like King David did. He would have been about 39 years old when Isaiah prophesied these words to him.
Isaiah was one of the most accurate prophets in all of the Bible. So, his message was a death sentence to Hezekiah. It would have been understandable for Hezekiah to give up, lie down and await his impending death.
But Hezekiah did not do that!
Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Please, Lord, just remember…and Hezekiah wept profusely. (2 Kings 20:2-3 NASB)
King Hezekiah humbled himself and asked the Lord to remember his journey with Him.
His prayer was answered almost immediately.
“Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you…And I will add fifteen years to your life… (2 Kings 20:5-6 NASB)
By putting the Lord in remembrance, King Hezekiah added fifteen years to his life. Not bad, right?
What did Glen do?
Glen’s first words were: “That’s the doctor’s report, not God’s report!”
Then, Glen reminded the Lord of his near-death experience with COVID in January of this year. Glen was in the hospital for over a week, hovering close to death, but it was at this time that the Lord spoke to him, giving him insights and promises for his life. Glen wrote pages of stuff about his experience.
“God is not going to allow me to die after speaking to me in January,” Glen proclaimed.
What Hezekiah did and what Glen did and is doing, we can do the same!
If you are like me, we have promises from the Lord that are not fulfilled as yet. So, we can remind the Lord of His promises for our lives. It’s up to Him to make His promises come to pass, not us.
And trust me on this: God will bankrupt heaven – if He needs to do so – to fulfill His promises for our lives. COVID, other diseases and pestilences, famines, earthquakes and whatever are nothing compared to His faithfulness.
And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon…and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus…then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, according to Your word…” (Luke 2:25-29 NASB)
God will make our crooked ways straight for our lives if we walk with Him and remind Him of His words, just as He did for King Hezekiah and Simeon and Glen.
Larry Who 