Making the Choice of God

Choices are something that we are all faced with every day of our lives. Sometimes those choices are just simple everyday occurrences like what to eat for breakfast, but we do come across those choices that shape who we are from time to time. To see an example of this let’s look at Ahaz king of Judah and his son Hezekiah who was later king of Judah, which is recorded in the book of 2 Kings starting at chapter 16.

When Ahaz became king he was in the midst of a war with Israel and Syria. Ahaz had choices to make.

if Ahaz would simply turn to Him. Ahaz chose to turn to man rather than God and sought the help of Assyria. Ahaz showed his character and how he wanted to find a way himself rather than to rely on God in his life. This may have worked in theory for Ahaz because Assyria did come to his aid and rid him of the problem of Israel and Syria. Unfortunately, because Assyria was brought into the land and paid for their assistance they became greedy and eventually turned on the land of Judah. Ahaz made his choice to rely on someone other than God and it brought despair to the people.

Hezekiah, on the other hand, chose to not only trust in the Lord but to cling to Him as well, and because of this, the Lord was with Hezekiah. You can see this because at a time when Hezekiah was ill he prayed to the Lord and the Lord swiftly answered through Isaiah and healed Hezekiah and also gave him 15 extra years to his life. Hezekiah’s choice of God was not only beneficial for him it also helped the people, because when Assyria came down upon them God struck down 185,000 of their men in one night.

Hezekiah chose God. Can we make that same choice in our lives when times are tough? When we get down or are struggling is God the one that we look to? We will all face choices at times that aren’t as simple or easy as choosing breakfast, but it will show our character. Are we going to be like Ahaz and chose man or like Hezekiah and chose God?

Jacob Saarloos