Two Kings, Fear or Faith?

Fear

• Ahab – King of Israel
• 1 Kings 20
• Faced a threat – Syria
• Ahab fought and won twice…
• …But he made a covenant with the very king he came to defeat, even calling him brother. He was rebuked by a prophet for not finishing the job, and his life continued to go downhill from there.

Faith

• Hezekiah – King of Judah
• 2 Kings 18-19
• Faced a threat – Asyria
• God fought for Hezekiah
• Hezekiah didn’t even entertain conversation with the enemy, but humbled himself and ran to God, instead of trying to solve it himself. As a result, God defeated the Assyrian king and army without Hezekiah’s involvement.

What do we do when the enemy comes against us?

• Submit to God. (James 4:7a) – Hezekiah did. He went straight to the temple and brought his requests to God. (2 Kings 19:1)

• Resist the devil and he will flee. (James 4:7b) – Hezekiah did. He told his people to be quiet and not respond to the king of Assyria.

How many of us have tried to solve our own problems, tried to “reason” our own way out of a problem…only to see it get worse? In my own life, if my mind gets anxious, too often I’d try to fight negative thoughts with other thoughts, only to wear myself out. But, when I give my worries to God (1 Peter 5:7), and go to Him with a problem, then it’s in His hands, and I find peace in knowing I don’t have to be the one to solve it. He can fight for us a lot better than we can on our own.

See James 4:4-10 and 1 Peter 5:6-10 for more on submitting and resisting.

Devotional by Autumn Tharp