Isaiah 38:2
“Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,”
The verse above is Hezekiah’s first response when he was told that he was going to die. After all that Hezekiah did in bringing Israel back to God, I’m sure he was a little confused and maybe angry that God would take his life. Instead of getting mad at God or doing something he would later regret, he went to God and poured his heart out to Him with his desire to have more life given to him. God heard the prayer of Hezekiah and gave him fifteen more years.
Oftentimes our first response to adverse circumstances is not the best. Once the shock of the initial wave of adverse circumstance is over, what we do just may determine what God will do. There are some in the Scriptures whose first response was the opposite of Hezekiah’s, and the result was also the opposite. There are several times in your life when you need to make sure that you have the proper first response.
When sickness comes, your first response should be to pray. Hezekiah was about to die from a sickness, and instead of running to the doctor or health advisor, he ran to the One Who could change his health. I’m not against a person going to the doctor. In fact, I believe it is wise to visit a doctor when you are sick; however, your first response should be to run to God when you are sick. Since when is it right to run to man before you run to God? Maybe the reason many don’t see God do something in their health is because they use Him as a last resort when God wants to be your first response.
When you disagree with God, your first response should be to go to Him. It is interesting that Hezekiah disagreed with God, and in his disagreement he didn’t quit serving the LORD or run to his friends to complain, rather he went to God to give his complaint. You are going to have times in your life when you disagree with God. That is simply human nature; however, when you disagree with Him you need to tell Him about it. Quitting the Christian life is not going to help you or make things better. Complaining to your pastor or friends is not going to change one thing. The only way you are going to change your disagreement with God is to go talk to Him. Isn’t it interesting that we tell people to go directly to the person with whom they disagree, but we completely avoid talking to God when we disagree with Him? When God does something that you disagree with, go to Him and talk to Him about it. It just might be that you can change God’s mind as Hezekiah did.
When tragedy hits, your first response should be to go to God. What happened to Hezekiah was a tragedy. No, he didn’t die, but he was about ready to die. When tragedy comes your way go to God. He is the One Who can help you through your tragedy. Certainly your pastor can help, but he cannot help like God can. In times of tragedy make running to God your first response.
Christian, you are going to have to totally retrain yourself when these things come. It is natural to go to man or respond adversely in these times, but you must make going to God your first response. He is the only One Who can help you in these times, so don’t waste the time you have doing things that can’t change your circumstances. The quicker you get to God, the quicker you can see a resolution to your problem.