Lessons For The Day Of Trouble

Isaiah 37:3

When Sennacherib and the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem and threatened to destroy it, Hezekiah the king sent this message to the prophet Isaiah: "This day is a day of trouble!" Without question, those words describe the day in which we live. We are living in those perilous times Paul warned us of in II Timothy 3:1-9. Apostate religion holds the world in darkness; and apostate religion always brings with it lawlessness, moral perversity, and brazen wickedness. In addition to these things, believers have personal trials which often come one upon the heels of another, which bring us personal days of trouble. What are we to do in the day of trouble? Where can we find help? How can we glorify God in the day of trouble? Read Isaiah 37 carefully. In this chapter Hezekiah teaches us some valuable lessons for the day of trouble.

1. In the day of trouble do not neglect the house of God. Broken and humbled by his circumstances, with a heavy, needy heart, Hezekiah "went into the house of the LORD" (v. 1). You will not find any help for your soul anywhere else; but just "attending church" will not help you.

2. In the day of trouble, seek a word from God. Hezekiah went to the house of God seeking a word from the prophet of God (v. 2). Come to the house of God praying for God to give his servant a word for your own heart, to encourage, comfort, strengthen and direct you in faith. When Hezekiah sought a word from God he found it (vv. 6-7). So will you.

3. In the day of trouble, spread your trouble before the Lord in prayer (vv. 14-20). Read Hezekiah's prayer carefully and learn how to pray. He simply told God what his trouble was, praised God for his greatness and goodness, and asked God to do what he had promised. Then he offered an argument God could not resist: "That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only!"

4. In the day of trouble, wait upon the Lord (vv. 21-38). Hezekiah left the house of God with God's word in his heart. His circumstances had not changed. Sennacherib and his army were still there, but Hezekiah had God's word, and he believed God! At God's appointed time, the day of trouble was over. In patience possess your soul and wait for God to perform his Word.

Don Fortner