When disease strikes - Part 1

 There's nothing more disheartening than receiving the news that you have an incurable disease. The first reaction is denial. In your head, you might be asking yourself:" How could this be? Could the doctors be wrong? Could I have been misdiagnosed? All these types of questions come through your mind when all of a sudden, your humanity hits you and you start feeling down, depressed and anxious. It reminds me of the words of Sons of Korah in Psalm 42: "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation." (V.5). It's easier said than done right? You see, the Word of God doesn't deny your humanity. As a matter of fact it affirms it. Look at Jesus himself dying on a cross for you and me. Look a Job, when God allowed Satan to strike him with disease, financial and family loss. Look at Paul with his thorn in the flesh and later on died by being beheaded. And there are many, many more that we can mention.

In the book of 2 Kings, chapter 20, there's the story of one king who was stricken with disease and His name was Hezekiah. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 18:2). As you read 2 Kings 18, you start to realize that he was a good King. "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord" (v.3), he removed the high places, broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made since the people of Israel started to worship it (v.4).

But there's an amazing statement about this man that truly reveals his character in verse 5: "He trusted in the Lord , the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him." Wow! Wouldn't it be amazing that we would be described the same way this king was? Well, there is a reason why he's described this way and it is shown in the following verse (6): "For he held fast to the Lord . He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses." You can never go wrong by being obedient to the Lord and His Word and live a life consecrated to Him. Like the old hymn says: "Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee, take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise, let them flow in ceaseless praise."

As a result of this man amazing consecration to the Lord, "the Lord was with him and wherever he went out, he prospered." (v.7). If you continue to read the remainder of chapter 18, you'll see some of the great things this king had done in the name of His Lord. " He rebelled against the King of Assyria and would not serve him" (v.7b) but then tried to seek peace: “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear(v.14b) and a payment is required (v.14c-16). But that's not enough for the Assyrian King, he sends messengers who start mocking Hezekiah's people and His God by a myriad of statements. For example: "do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” (v. 32c) and " who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" (v.35). But after all this mocking we can see Hezekiah's wisdom in leading his people in such a defiant situation: "but the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “do not answer him." (v.36)

Hezekiah, after being told all the details of the situation,  "he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, went into the house of the Lord" (2 Kings 19:1) and sent messengers to the prophet Isaiah to ask him to pray for them because "it was a day of destress, of rebuke, and of disgrace". The prophet Isaiah gave them a word of encouragement by saying: "...Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”2 Kings 19:6‭-‬7 

In the rest of chapter 19, we see the King of Assyria defying the Lord again (v.5-13). We see Hezekiah's prayer (v. 14-19) and that reveals another great characteristic of this man. He was a man of prayer! And finally, we see the King of Assyria' s fall. He is stricken dead by his own two sons (v.37b). 

Even though Hezekiah was a good king, he made a mistake and he paid for it. He shows the king of Babylon all of his treasure and all that he had in his store houses. Apparently this displeased God and sent word through the prophet Isaiah that he would lose all of  his possessions, and that his children will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Hezekiah replied sarcastically and in some ways selfishly: "The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

I wanted to give you a little bit of history on this man's life so we can see what happens next with a better understanding. So far we've seen he's a good king who shows good character, we've seen he's a man of prayer and we've also seen Godly wisdom when he leads his people. But, we have also mentioned the mistake he made.

Despite all these good things that we've talked about this man, God allows sickness in his life to the point of death (2 Kings 20:1). His disease had to do something with a boil in his body (v.7). Through the prophet Isaiah, he is told to get ready because he is going to die. But unlike many of us, this king shows us some things that we can do when disease strikes. Way too often our first respond is desperation but look at what he does, especially at the young age of 39 years old.

He teaches us that when disease strikes:

I. We ought to pray.

 "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord" 2 Kings 20:2 

Hezekiah's first reaction to receiving the news of his future death was to pray to his Lord. What is your first reaction when you receive bad news? I'm going to be honest with you; my first reaction is not always to pray to the Lord but to complain, worry, get desperate and in the case of a disease, go to doctors and and get medications. Now, doctors and medications have their place, but how often do we come to the Lord first? He's the Great Physician! He has the better answers! This reminds me of a story in 2 Chronicles 16:12: "...Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord , but sought help from physicians." It's not wrong to seek help from physicians but it is wrong not to seek your Lord first! Oh boy am I preaching to myself? Prayer is so intimate, so special, so specific, so amazing that nobody is going to talk to God about your issues better than yourself. Hezekiah sought the Lord, Asa didn't. Whose example do we want to follow?

Now, Hezekiah reminds three things to the Lord about his walk with Him (2 Kings 20:3):

 1. I have walked in faithfulness.

 2. I have walked with a whole heart.

 3. I have done what is good in your sight.

It's like Hezekiah is saying: "Hey Lord, I've been a good boy and you've got to help me". It sounds kind of pharisaical, doesn't it? Well, the things he states in this prayer were based on God's promises made in the Old Covenant. For example Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 show us that God gave them blessings or cursings based on their obedience or disobedience. So, Hezekiah's reminding God of his walk with Him was not merely pharisaical but it was based on the solid Word of God. David gives us another example in Psalm 15:1-2:

"O Lord , who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart". 

So, is it good to remind God of the good things you've done to see if your prayers are answered positively? You see, I believe Hezekiah was praying to God based on what he knew. He was backing up his prayers with God's promises. He was probably thinking on Deuteronomy 28:1-2 when he uttered his prayer: "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God." He was faithful and obedient to his Lord and that is why he was expecting his Lord to act on His promises. The Lord did hear Hezekiah's prayer not just because he was an obedient man and did good in His eyes, but because "all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory." 2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV. God, within His own sovereignty, allowed this man's prayer to align with His will to ultimately accomplish His plan, which was to heal Hezekiah and give him fifteen extra years in his life. God is never taken by surprise. He's all-knowing.  He knows your prayers in advance and He hears them but He always and definitely has the last word in what happens in your life.

So, when disease strikes, you pray without ceasing because that's how we communicate the deepest hurts of our soul. God "heard" Hezekiah's prayer and gave him an immediate answer and a positive one. You'll never know what He can do for you if you don't pray first. Prayer should be always the first plan of attack when you are stricken by disease or when you are faced with a difficult situation. We should follow Hezekiah's example. Do we always? I don't think we do but we need to continue to put prayer at the forefront of our battles. Never forget "He is the God who hears".