2. Return to God and/or trust God in every aspect of life.
Even with their finances and what they produced from their farms or when hunting, they began to give offerings to God which were then distributed to those in need, so the community had plenty and abundance because of their willingness to personally sacrifice. What soon followed was spiritual awakening! Amazing things were happening because Hezekiah made a choice to change the trajectory of his life.
In the midst of this is a really remarkable phrase describing Hezekiah:
5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. —2 Kings 18:5-7
Now that sounds like the kind of person we want to be! How amazing would it be if, when describing your life in a book, they wrote about you:
“He was successful in whatever he tried.”
“She was successful in whatever she tried.”
Hezekiah made a covenant with God, an agreement with God. He chose to commit himself and his decisions to God. In doing so, he experienced the full blessing of God.
If we stopped there, we would end up being disappointed quite quickly in God if we think: “If I just promise God I will do better, then he will give me success.” We should aspire toward a life and ministry described as successful in all that we do, but we have to remember what success in the Scriptures really means.
We think of success as the opposite of failure or the absence of hardship. We define success in our dictionary as “the attainment of wealth, position, honors or the like.” The Hebrew word used to describe Hezekiah means “to be prudent, be circumspect, wisely understand, prosper.”
3. Redefine success.
Success means making wise choices, no matter what circumstances we face.
Hezekiah made wise choices. The reason the trajectory of his life was so different than his father’s life was a direct result of his willingness to make sacrifices in his relationship with God. Wisdom is not some magical way of knowing the future. Wisdom is the ability to connect cause and effect. Hezekiah understood that when he made his relationship with God his priority, everything else came together.
When we begin to see the Scriptures as a portal into God’s presence, as a way to understand who God is and what He has for us—our lives will never be the same. The Bible is filled with examples to follow and examples to avoid. When we read the Bible, seek to understand what was happening, and then apply what we are reading to our lives—we will be amazed at the change we experience.
4. Seek God through the Scriptures.
Too often, we take the Bible for granted. As pastors and church leaders, we feel we know all the stories and have read all the books so many times that we won’t find anything new. The difference comes when we come to the Scriptures looking to experience God and hear from Him rather than looking for more information to share with others.
Just like in any relationship, we drift away. We need to be intentional about re-engaging and coming to God with more desperation than out of obligation. Hezekiah experienced the kind of life we do not have to just imagine or hope for, but the kind of life and ministry we can experience, starting now.
Hezekiah removed the things from his life and from his nation that were pointing toward false gods. He removed the things that distracted from the One True God. The result was spiritual awakening!
