More Than Mere Words

“What confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust?” 2 Kings 18:19-20

My Bible study Trustworthy by Lysa TerKeurst is the study of the kings of the Bible. Many kings started their reign with the intention of leading their people in the ways of the Lord. But most of them very quickly after taking the throne failed to stand up for the things of God. Finally, I was encouraged when I got to King Hezekiah who seemingly chased hard after the commands and statutes of God for most of his reign. Just when I thought I would see his life played out in spiritual victory his fear spoke louder than his faith. He gave the treasures of the Lord to the king of Assyria in exchange for safety from an attack from their army. At a later time, another threat came from the same king who had previously been shown King Hezekiah’s weakness and fear. When I read our morning passage above spoken by the king who had sent the threat, I immediately thought of Satan with a similar taunt towards Eve. ‘Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, You must not…?” Ge 3:1. Eve gave Satan a small opening for him to make a big impact. All he needed was a small spirit of distrust to make her confidence in God ‘mere words.’

Can we sometimes be just as vulnerable as Eve when faced with a question of God’s goodness or promises? We too speak in our times of calm of having plans to trust God and depend on His power, but are they mere words when the hard and disparaging times come? And when the harsh winds of life blow in attacking us, do we begin to question God’s character and power? ‘I need to remember the enemy is vicious, but he is not victorious. Therefore, I can sometimes feel afraid, but I don’t have to live afraid. And even more importantly I can remember that fear doesn’t have to pull me away from trusting God. Fear can actually be the catalyst to me choosing to trust God more than ever.’ Trustworthy, Lysa TerKeurst, p. 139.

We cannot have a faith that doesn’t fail without a faith that doesn’t include our fellowship with the Lord. We can give all the lip service about having plans to trust God in all things, but without putting the time in to intimately know Him, they will be mere words when the challenging times move in. ‘Half-hearted trust is still distrust.’ p. 45. Putting our faith in God in all seasons doesn’t mean everything turns out the way we want, it means that in spite of what happens we fully know that God will give us the grace and peace to get through it.