Faith-fulness

2 Chronicles 32:1

"After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself."

vs7: " 'Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the mulititude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.'"

The chapter before is about the Reforms of Hezekiah and it talks about him taking down the high places, smashing the graven images, and making sure the Levites are taken care of as they do their duties. Hezekiah's father Ahaz was an evil king, so much so that God allowed five consecutive raids by different countries to try and get his attention. But he was defiant to the last. His son stepped out boldly to follow the Lord and lead his people in righteousness, and after many acts of faithfulness...Assyria invades and camps against him. Does that make sense? What is Hezekiah thinking..."What did I do to deserve this?" "God, I've done all these great things for you..." No. In verse seven he clearly trusts in the Lord to deliver. He is not waivered. He sees this as an opportunity for God to glorify His name.

After all these years, I still expect God to reward faithfulness with prosperity. I still forget that God loves to take your faithfulness and grow your faith, often through difficult circumstances. But He is faithful to deliver.