grip switching.

meet a king, his name is Hezikiah.


in the book of the Bible, 2 Kings, we are given a short description of who he was.  

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.

 For he held fast to the Lord. 

when i find myself holding fast to things other than the Lord it usually means trouble, with a capital "T"  so i've been wondering and reading, why on earth did this king gets this little phrase in his intro?? what did he actually do to receive the words "he held fast to the Lord??"  and i found there is just not one answer. there are of course many.


one particular time Hezikiah was pretty distressed about this neighboring king who was quite the big bully, and Hezikiah was just plain fed up with this kings power and blasphemy toward God... so he prayed about it. and God answered through his prophet Isaiah in 2 Kings 19 21-28. God's answer went something like this.. (and i double dog dare you to read the following list out loud.. really, do it. and read it slow.. and then read it again. it's that amaxing)

God will protect you like a parent protects his/her daughter.

God counts sin as an injury to Him- and He will repay.

God is in even the most unreachable places.

God is unstoppable.

God is the author and the beginning of His church, 

He will never let it be completely destroyed.

God gave enemies strength, they will flourish for a time, and later decay like flowers.

God knows everything about me.

God has a hook in the nose and a bridle in the jaws of all His and our enemies. 

did you read it out loud? gosh i hope so. if fact, if you didn't read it loud enough for someone to look at you weird.. go ahead and read it again... no worries, i'll wait..

goooooooooo do it..

whew.. wow. i'm in awe of it all. God's words are  timeless and alive in my capital "T" world and i am reminded again,  to let go of what i find myself holding fast to at the moment and switch my grip to hold fast to the only thing that matters, God. He's got it. i don't have to hang onto anything but Him. 

Hezikiah was promised by God that he would be free from this neighboring king, that God would win. For a while Hezikiah believed and walked in that truth, then his gripped switched.

 but  i'll tell you about that tomorrow...