Go and tell Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.” (Isa. 38:5)
GEORGE WOKE UP one morning with severe abdominal pain. When it got really bad, his wife rushed him to a hospital. There they discovered a rare form of gall-bladder cancer. When the doctors removed the gall bladder, they discovered that the cancer had spread down to the liver. Usually when cancer hits this area, the prognosis is poor. George got more tests and a second opinion, and the doctors determined that surgery was his best option. But if the surgeon went in and saw that the cancer had spread even further, he would simply stop the operation.
The day of the surgery, the people in George’s church came together for a prayer vigil, humbly asking for George’s healing and for the doctors to have wisdom. During the operation, one of the surgeons called George’s wife to tell her that there was absolutely no cancer to be found anywhere in the liver. For the past two years, George has been completely cancer free.
King Hezekiah was dying, and he didn’t feel like he was ready to go. So God miraculously gave him another fifteen years of life. But then he misused that time by showing off the treasure of Israel to a nation who would one day conquer them. Let’s not take the time God has given us for granted or misuse that time in ways that are not honoring to Him.
Journal your thoughts on how, if you only had five more years to live, you would spend that time.
Doug Schmidt is a freelance writer and editor and is on staff with his church as a small-groups coach.
