The Conflict We Can't Avoid: Folly or Faith?

S - 2 Kings 18:29-30, 32b, 19:10-11, 14-15a (NLT): "This is what the king says: Don't let King Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you from my power. Don't let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, `The LORD will rescue us! This city will never be handed over to the Assyrian king.' … "Don't listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, `The LORD will rescue us!' … "This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don't let this God you trust deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria. You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have crushed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different? … After Hezekiah received the letter and read it, he went up to the LORD's Temple and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed …"

O - This type of confrontation (Sennacherib against Hezekiah) is not a relic of ancient history reserved for ancient kings. It is the conflict of the god of this age against the real God, the God of all of the earth. Every man, woman and child will find themselves caught in this conflict at one time or another. It works on all levels of this age from the individual to the corporate to cities, states and nations. The voice of this age offers the same basic rationale to us all. It calls us to not believe, not trust and not obey the Lord. The voice of the world (even the religious world), the Devil and our own fallen selves offer the same basic reasons to not believe the Lord which Sennacherib screemed at Hezekiah:
1. You don't have enough power on your own.
2. You are no different from all the others who have been conquered/failed.
3. The Lord won't rescue you.
4. Trusting God will only end in self-deception (foolishness and folly).
5. This whole thing is inevitable you might as well give up right now.

A - All of these tap into the fear we all carry. Only the first of them is currently true - we don't have enough power on our own. This should not surprise or intimidate any follower of Jesus because we all know this to be true. Nevertheless, this truth seems or appears to give credence to the rest. The second is partially true because we are no different in ourselves, but Jesus makes the difference, changes the whole dynamic and "un-casts" whatever dye was previously cast. Our assignment in and through this conflict is the same one we have in peaceful seasons as well: believe, trust, obey. Those who belong to the Lord and trust him find the same conclusion recorded in Scripture - Sennacherib cannot win and Hezekiah cannot lose.

P - Lord of all and Lord of me,

I am hearing Sennacherib's voice. I am facing Sennacherib's army and I am not strong enough to resist nor defeat him. I am no different from any other on the face of this earth … I am a sinner, I am failed and flawed and I have many times done what I should not do and failed to do what I should. Nevertheless, with you all things are possible and because of your relentless love, unflickering mercy and amazing grace I am with you and you are with me. Lord, I believe and am trusting and will obey. Hear and see the taunt, show me my part in your deliverance. I am asking, seeking and knocking and humbling myself to receive your answer however you chose to give it. I re-present my request for new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and for that which is too wonderful for me. I am looking to you and waiting with you, for your deliverance and provision and your way to be revealed. Lord, I will follow you no matter where you lead me and no matter what I face.

Sanctus Dominus est (Holy is the Lord),

Steve