Day 178
II Chronicles 32: 7,8
“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude tht is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is the arm of flesh: but with us the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah King of Judah.”
Whose words carry the most weight with us? That is an important question we must ask ourselves. The answer reveals the kind of relationship we have with God and the level of faith we walk in. The passage above says the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Regardless of what may have come to their minds or what others may have said, they chose to accept the words of the king as most reliable. Thus, their behavior was one of rest, or confidence.
Jeremiah 17:5 tells us that a man brings a curse on himself by departing from the Lord in his heart and putting his trust in man, or making flesh his arm. We can tell where our confidence is when we react to circumstances. For example, if we were to go to the doctor and he gave us a bad report, would we fall apart as though his word were the most reliable - the word we would rest ourselves on? What about the banker, the realtor, the judge, or any other official? If we act as though a man’s word is the final one, we are relying on flesh. We must always see what God has to say about the subject and let His Word be the last thing we say about the matter.
God’s last word for those who trust Him is always victory. That does not mean everything will be rosy or without trouble, hardship or heartache. It simply means that if we keep our confidence in Him, respecting Him as final authority, He will take even tragedy and turn it into triumph. It means sad moments may occur during our story, but there will always be a happy ending.
God’s Word is my word to rest on. I will look to the Lord, who is my shepherd, for the final word in every situation.