INSTITUTE OF LOVE

We Are The Example Of Recovery
Text Box: Several people have asked me lately these very good questions: “What is God telling you prophet? - When are we going to recover from this sick economy or recession which now has an all time high unemployment rate? Or are we coming to the end of the world? And what are we believers supposed to do?” In the recent months there has been given prophetic words by well meaning Godly men and women who say that this is God’s judgment, and that we will not recover from this economic downfall. They also say, that this is just the beginning of an all out catastrophe that will hit America. They recommend Christians to stock pile canned food and water, and some others urge believers to flee the United States to a safe country, in for instance South America, igniting all sorts of fear among God’s people. In my recent blogs “Relax, God can be trusted” I gave a biblical explanation to all of this, and received encouraging comments from many of you that it helped you understand your position and calling as a Christian in this ungodly decaying society. However, to come back to the question whether we are going to recover from this bad economy, I received a revelation through God’s Word the other day in my kitchen while cooking that really lifted my soul and excited me greatly. It is the story of Hezekiah, king of Judah, who was a very devoted man to God: One day, the King of Assyria threatened to attack Judah, because Judah’s king, King Hezekiah stopped paying Assyria an annual fee that was agreed upon through the previous King of Assyria. This annual payment was so that Assyria would not attack or invade Judah. King Hezekiah thought that since Assyria had a new king, he would forget about this arrangement and ignore him. King Hezekiah ultimately realized his mistake and paid the money, but even so, the king of Assyria attacked Judah with a huge army. And on top off all this, King Hezekiah became very ill, to the point of dying. In other words, you can say that King Hezekiah ended up in a very hopeless case, as we also can be dealing with desperate situations in our lives. And yet! As you can read in the following passages: About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: "This is what the LORD says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness." When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have always tried to be faithful to you and do what is pleasing in your sight." Then he broke down and wept bitterly. Then this message came to Isaiah from the LORD: "Go back to Hezekiah and tell him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. Yes, I will defend this city. Isaiah 38:1-7 NLT Even though Isaiah prophesied that King Hezekiah would die, God changed His mind after King Hezekiah turned to God in prayer. Not only had He healed King Hezekiah from his deadly sickness with the promise of adding fifteen years to his life, but God also miraculously destroyed almost the entire Assyrian army and its king that was coming against Judah. That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian troops. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there. One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. Isaiah 37:36-38 NLT King Hezekiah has become the example of Recovery and so are we, who trust in Jesus Christ our God and Savior and pray to Him for help as King Hezekiah did. No matter how hopeless our circumstances might seem, God can do the impossible (see Matthew 19:26) and make us the example of God’s Recovery to the world!   Copyright©2009 Sophia & Edwin Christiaan Text Box: By Edwin Christiaan