Plot Thickens

Click here to read Isaiah 36

The plot thickens.  After chapter upon chapter upon chapter of predicting gloom and doom is coming.  Assyria comes knocking on the door of Jerusalem, toppling the walls of the Israelite towns, and generally taking over the place.  King Hezekiah, the king of Israel, looks out his window and see the whole Assyrian army standing there.  And if that was not enough, the King of Assyria, starts to egg on the Hezekiah.  "Where is all your confidence now, O great, King?"  "Where is this God that you had been calling on now, O great, King?"  "Not so quick with the words anymore, are we great King?"

When someone says things that we know to be true, but are difficult to hear, it can cause us to be defensive, we can get angry, and we want to strike back.  When someone gloats or tries to get our goat with words, we might only be able to say, "Oh yeah...well says you."  When someone has a quick quip that leaves us stammering and stuttering, our cheeks turn red, and we want so hard to come back with some kind of snappy come back.  But King Hezekiah, like us, doesn't have anything he can say.

He had heard what Isaiah had said in the past and those memories are hard to push down.  "I should have listened to Isaiah!"  In the midst of fear, we can question, "Where is God."  And when faced with devastation and destruction in our lives, it is even more difficult to know which way to turn and what to do.

Lent invites us to be honest about our brokenness, about times when our words have hurt, and facing our fears.  Isaiah does not smugly stand there saying, "Told you so."  Isaiah is willing to go through the brokenness and stand side by side in the face of fears. He is willing to go even to exile with the people. Part of our faithfulness calls us to do just that.  Yet, it is easier to stand on the sideline and say, "Told you so."

This Lent are we willing to learn from Isaiah?  If we are, I believe, there are traces of God's grace to be found even in those moments.

Blessings and peace!