You don't find time, You make time!

"Hezekiah son of Ahaz began to rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan.
 ⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. ⁶ He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. ⁷ So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute. ⁸ He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory, from their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.
 ⁹ During the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege against it. ¹⁰Three years later, during the sixth year of King Hezekiah’s reign and the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Samaria fell. ¹¹ At that time the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded them to obey."- 2 Kings 18:1-12

The context of this passage is extremely significant. I have been reading through Kings for about a week now and what a refreshing passage this has been to run into, for if you read through the book of Kings you will notice this re-occurring pattern of kings that were evil in the Lord's sight, who were not faithful to God, guilty of worshipping pagan shrines and idols, offering sacrifices to them, and not even paying any reverence to God. It is pitiful because the pattern of their character is so consistent that it becomes easy to assume that each new king will be evil. Generation after generation of these kings were characterized by their disobedience, wickedness, stubbornness, and in result, Israel is led astray. God sends prophets time and time again to warn the kings and Israel of the coming judgement, but their hearts still refuse to believe in God. So when this king named Hezekiah steps on the scene, his reign over Israel sticks out like a sore thumb. All the sudden we've got this young dude- only twenty five years old- wrecking shop. He's taking down the pagan shrines, smashing the sacred pillars, cutting the Asherah poles, and breaking up the bronze serpent Moses had made because the people of Israel were offering sacrifices to it. Hezekiah played no games- he saw what was preventing God's people from having devout hearts for God, and what did he do? Did he bring it before the people so they could figure out a solution, maybe work out an agreement so that everyone could be happy? Absolutely not. Hezekiah, with no questions asked or hesitation, shatters anything and everything that is and could even potentially be a stronghold on the people keeping them from fully worshiping the One true God. Can you imagine the outrage, the anger, and all the negative attitudes that had to of come from the people as he was doing this? Smashing their idols, who they deeply believed to be god! This was in no way an easy task! No other king had ever done this, not even his own father, or the king before that or the king before that.  Hezekiah broke the mold and the chain of generational sin; he didn't play it safe, rather, he forfeited the current of tolerance when all the odds were against him and chose to obey the Lord, even if everyone hated him for it. Hezekiah had some guts! And this is what made him distinct, unlike any other king that had ruled: "Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses."- 2 Kings 18:5-6. What is so special about Hezekiah does not stop at the fact that he was obedient in the important things, but rather that this guy was king while choosing to do all this, he was in authority, and very much in the public eye, and yet he strived to get under the authority of the Lord! His goal was to remain faithful in EVERYTHING. Kings before him had paid partial tribute to the one true God, but also allowed the pagan shrines, idols, and worship of other gods to still continue. They did what was okay, and they could have gotten it right, but they wouldn't let go of what they wanted, and instead settled to have divided hearts and divided devotion to God. But not Hezekiah, he was different. He was distinct. He was faithful, and in result: "So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did."- 2 Kings 18:7. Hezekiah's faithfulness in God put him in the position to see God's faithfulness. God blessed his obedience and faith. But delve even further, and we can observe a characteristic about God from the comparison between how Hezekiah acted towards God and how the Israelites did- for Hezekiah responded to God with faith and obedience and God made him successful in everything he did, but the Israelites would not listen to God and continued doing what they wanted to do and God exiled them to Assyria: " For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey Him. Instead, they violated His covenant- all the laws that Moses the Lord's servant had commanded them to obey." God was not tolerant of the Israelites disobedience, nor was He understanding. Never did God change His mind, reason with the people about what would work for them, and figure out some type of compromise with the people. No! Rather God never budged! So what does this tell us about God, who is the same God today? He expects our complete devotion.
Today, we may not be exiled to Assyria like the Israelites, but we have to remember that that punishment was specific to that context. Our punishment will come in a different form, for God is just, and to assume anything otherwise would be incorrect. God is still the same God that exiled the Israelites to Assyria for their divided hearts, thus how can we think it to be logical that God is okay with how we live our lives distracted by idols now? The image of the Israelites being exiled by the hand of God, is this picture of being separated from God, of being sent away. And this is exactly what our disobedience will do- it will separate us from God. But when we look at Hezekiah in verses 18:6-7, we can see that we have a choice and do not have to follow the Israelites example because we see a different picture with Hezekiah, one of obedience, one of faithfulness.

"He remained faithful to the Lord IN EVERYTHING, and he CAREFULLY OBEYED ALL THE COMMANDS the Lord had given Moses. SO the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did."

It is worth acknowledging what made Hezekiah distinct. He took the time to remain faithful to the Lord in everything despite all the demands he had as king, and put forth intentional effort that required him to literally act against the current, so that he and others could obey all the commands of God. Hezekiah offered up no excuses; he just did it. The same applies to us. We have the opportunity to step out of the current of tolerance and get into the realm of undivided devotion to the One true God. When we make the time for God and remain faithful to making the time for God (because it takes time to observe Him in everything in order to obey all his commands) despite the attitudes of others, or the demands of this life, we get closer to God (more intimate) and our relationship with Him grows deeper, and the greater and more deep our relationship with God is, the more affect His righteous influence will have on us and thus will in turn result in being successful in everything we do, aka- to look more like Him in everything we do. God is the one and only thing we should never be caught compromising. He is the only one worth our time and energy, and as we take in that truth, may we allow it to destroy our schedules, disrupt our plans, and painfully complete our hearts. May we take an active initiative to make God the only One we are devoted to, just as Hezikiah did. May we make Him more than our first priority, may we make Him our everything. He is why we are here... and may we also never forget that.

CHALLENGE: Witness to 8 people this week. This should be easy for those of you who have kept up with the witnessing to someone everywhere you go method. Continue running: 9 ladders- oh yes lol, we are going to pump it up! Persevere! I know that school starting back makes it ten times more difficult, but remember it only counts if its hard. As women of God, we are strong because we are in Christ and thus we should not expect anything less than the power of God to out pour from our lives. Be obedient, be faithful, and put God first. Exercise your jaw for the sake of the Gospel his week ladies. Have faith, be bold, and be loud! Journal everything, and don't forget to prayer walk after you run. E-mail me and let me know how it's going or if you have questions. God bless!