Doubt

I hate before-the-fact smack talk. I'm all for smack talk after a great shot or a big win, but when you're all assuredly like "I'm going to win this!", it annoys me.

Reading Isaiah 36-38 reminded me of that. King Hezekiah of Israel and King Sennacherib of Assyria are about to go to battle. And Sennacherib is basically like, "What up Hezekiah? You got no skills, you got a tiny army, and we're gonna crush you! And it was your God who told us to do this!" Then he gets on the wall to tell everyone in the country, "Don't listen to Hezekiah if he says God's going to help you win. He's not!" (That's all paraphrased.)

Hezekiah tears his clothes, a sign of mourning. He's disturbed by this smack talk for sure. But he sends for Isaiah, who prophecies this (I'm not paraphrasing this part): "This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.”

And Sennacherib, on the brink of another war, takes the time to send this message to Hezekiah: "If your God is telling you you're going to win, he's lying! We've beat all kinds of other gods before, loser!" (Another paraphrase.)

So now Hezekiah is left to decide who to listen to. This voice of doubt, Sennacherib, who has all the military advantages, or a little prophet with a word from God. He goes to the Temple, praises God, and acknowledges his power. He asks for God's help.

And then at night, while everyone is sleeping, an angel of the Lord goes to Assyria and kills 185,000 people. BOOM. Take THAT Sennacherib! (Sennacherib, as predicted, returns home, and his sons kill him with swords.)

I was reading this and thinking about the voices of doubt in my own head. How I often hear one voice saying, "No way, you can't do that!" and another voice saying, "God will help you! Go for it!" And unlike Hezekiah, I often fail to recognize the true power of God to help me. And I listen to that voice of doubt.

But if God can defeat 185,000 men without any human army even having to fight, he can surely conquer anything I'm doubting in my life.