He spread it before the Lord

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.” – 2 Kings 19.14-19

They were scary days for Judah. Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, had them in his sights. He had already defeated and dispersed Israel and Judah was naturally next on his list.

Sennacherib sent a letter to King Hezekiah demanding the surrender of Judah. A lesser man may have panicked and fretted about what to do. Hezekiah though was a man of God so his response was the proper one.

He read the letter, he went up to the Temple, he spread the letter before the Lord, and he prayed.

Now that is the kind of attitude I long for. Bad news shakes me. Scary possibilities scare me. I hate ‘those’ phone calls or texts or emails or letters in the post that come up with bad news. I hate doctors pronouncements of cancer or heart disease or whatever. I hate news of illness or financial setbacks.

A lot of folks are in a terrible stir about world events. It feels like we are on the precipice of disaster. There seems to be a world wide anger and hatred that is ready for a spark to ignite it. It is easy to get caught up in the fear and despair.

But in all these situations there is a better solution than fear or anger or frustration. Hezekiah set the pattern. He simply took the situation, laid it all out before the Lord, and prayed, trusting God with the results.

What are you facing today, or this weekend, or next week? Is their fear or uncertainty? When you saw the news today did it stir up anxiety?

Take it to the Lord in prayer.