Calling out those lying enemy kings: Lessons learned from my friend Hezekiah

Last summer, I had one of those rare (for me) write-everything-you're-thinking moments. I was reading about ancient kings in the Bible. Often a kind of yawn-fest, but the story of King Hezekiah just jumped out at me.  I wrote and wrote and wrote. Too many distractions out there for me - too many what-ifs and should-ofs.  Here's a snippet... 
I hope you enjoy!

So often I've struggled with questioning God. 

I know I am sinful

and ... 

I know I am nothing without God. 

The point is, 

     He is God.

He has forgiven me and He decides when I need correction and guidance. 

Not some dumb enemy king. 

But for some reason, when that enemy starts nattering at me I listen. 

When I take my focus off of God’s word 

       or don’t pause throughout my week to hang out with Him 

then I get turned all around. 

I don’t know if it’s 90 degrees or 180 

    but I’m not heading the right way. 

Just like what happened to King Hezekiah, my ancient new friend, who was surrounded by other kings and their lies, we're surrounded by ideas and ideologies, doubts and fears. They are the ones who lie, deceive and destroy. Just like Hezekiah, they get my attention, way too easily, and way too often.

That I bother to give them an audience at all, astounding

That’s where I go wrong, and that’s where God gives me an out. 

And that’s when I love Hezekiah the most.

Sure, he was discouraged, had felt fear and maybe even abandonment by his God. 

But, in the end, none of that was true. *You really need to read the story... 

God sent a prophet, a very wise man. His name was Isaiah 

and he was sent to King Hezekiah to help clear his confused and fearful heart.

Thank you God for friends, counselors, mentors and pastors,

and for the great writers out there 

who help clear our cobwebs of faith. 

So often, what we feel or think is a trick in itself. 

My feelings and too much Kathy-thinking is a dangerous slippery path. 

Truth is what matters, 

and the truth for Hezekiah was that he served the “God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim...(He) alone is God over all the kingdoms of the earth. (He) has made heaven and earth.” 

The prophet Isaiah had heard from God. 

Isaiah obeyed and went to see the King, 

assured him that God had heard the king’s prayers,

and that God, Himself, was calling out the lying kings that surrounded Hezekiah.

So here we are. I'm calling out those lying kings in your mind and heart. If you have ever found yourself in this same struggle with the nattering ideas and accusations that fill your head, stop right now. Whether it's a 180 degree turn or a mild 90 degree shift

Focus on Him. 

Spend time with Him.

Read the Bible, 

Listen to Him, 

    and The Truth.

I'd love to hear from you ... 

*You can Read here 
II Kings 18-20 (HCSB)

I Choose to Believe

The devil is real
Hell is real
Eternity is real

Now you can choose to not believe anything I'm writing right now.  In fact there are days I can choose to not pay much attention to the facts. I'm not looking for a demon under every rock, giving credit to the devil for life's cause and effect. But it's real ... that's a fact!

You may be reading this and assume I'm crazy, that I haven't a clue what I'm talking about and decide this is the last post you're ever gonna read from this delusional woman.

That's fine, but first hear me out.

God is real
Heaven is real
Eternity is real

If you've lived on this planet for more than a day, you've experienced all of this already. You've been in the very midst of eternity. It would be very arrogant to think that what we look at in the mirror is everything ... sadly many days I do think that. It's narcissistic to believe all that happens in our world is up to us, dependent on us. It's not.

Be honest with yourself, you know it's not true.
If you've been present at the birth of a baby, or stood on a pier and watched a pod of dolphins play in the ocean you know there is more to life than just "us."
You've read about, heard about, possibly even experienced evil.
You've sensed fear, darkness, isolation, loneliness. Those are all the schemes that the devil has devised to conquer and break us down.

Eternity - the forever after, beyond what we see, smell, hear right now.
Like cataracts on our eyes. We think we see it all clearly each day, feeling happiness one moment, sadness the next. We go from euphoria to despair. We believe what we see. But like cataracts, our eyesight is fuzzy, what is real is hard to see. What you think life is supposed to look like, isn't true, isn't clear.  There is more, oh, so much more! Forever after will be like that, eye surgery to remove cataracts, laser surgery to correct our vision.
That is the hope we have, the bigger picture, what is to come. How we live today is part of that. Is integral and full of purpose. But it's foggy, hard to see. Not clear to our sin-sick vision.

So now we have two options.
Believe or not believe
I choose to believe,
I choose to realize each day,
       each disappointment, each need
       every celebration, every desire and craving is a part but not the whole
These things are not what our life is about, not the end all, not all there is

The devil is real
God is everything
Hell is real
It's not created for me or mine, but for the devil and his angels
Heaven is real
It is my focus, my forever-after, my eternity