2 Kings 20:1-6 says, “In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’'' Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 'Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.' And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 'Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.'”
How would you feel if a preacher showed up at your house one day and said, "Thus says the Lord; Get your house in order, for you're going to die?" That would be pretty shocking, wouldn't it?
Well, this is exactly what happened to King Hezekiah here in 2 Kings. Now, don't miss the truth presented here in this powerful story. The important part isn't the bad news Isaiah delivered to the King - the real story is what Hezekiah did about it. You see, the point is that you do not have to stay in the situation your in; No, you don't have to stay in that dilemma. God will turn it around! Whether the problem you're facing is physical, material, or spiritual, there is an answer for you. God can and will turn it around!
King Hezekiah refused to accept the sentence of death, even though it came from a prophet of God. To handle this situation, though, he didn't call for a committee meeting to access the situation, or start complaining about how unfair God was - He started praying! He went to Someone who could do something about his problem - He cried out to God. The Lord saw his tears, and heard his prayers, and turned that death sentence around! Have there been times in your life where you reached a place where it didn't look like there was any way out? I have! I've been there many times. But just one look to the Master and He turned it around, every single time.
Now let's take a look at another man in the Bible who found that God would turn things around when evil came to his life. Let's look at the life of Job. One day, many thousands of years ago, God said to the devil, “Have you considered my servant Job? He is a perfect man who fears God and shuns evil." The devil replied, "Job is only serving you because you've made him the richest man in the world. Take his wealth and he'll curse you to your face." God then said, “Alright, I'll show you, I'll place him in your hands and you can do with him as you will, except you cannot take his life." The devil said, "I've already tried to get to him, but you have a hedge around him, and I can't touch him.”
Now, this happened during the days of the Old Covenant. If Job had this level of protection back then, think of what God has provided for you today under the New Covenant. Before the devil could touch you, he would have to try and go through the Blood of the Lamb, break the seal of the Holy Ghost, and walk all over the hand of the Father! I say that's pretty good protection there!
I won't go into the whole story of Job, for most of you know it by heart. After he had lost all his children, all of his livestock, and even when his wife told him to curse God, Job still put his trust in the Lord. Job said, "I know my redeemer liveth, and though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."
Dear Saint, if you're going through a hard time, hold on a little longer. God restored everything back to Job, and did so twice as much as He had before. God turned it around for Job and God will turn it around for you!
The story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:12-15 is another great example of how God can turn trouble into blessings and disaster into victories. The Bible tells us that Jehoshaphat was a marvelous King who did what was right in the sight of God. He was good to the people he ruled over. The nation was free from war, and the nation was debt free. Everything and everybody was blessed. So much so, that the kings of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, became jealous and formed an alliance against Kingdom.
In response, the people started praying. Here's what the Word says, “'O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.' Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, 'Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.'”
Now let me tell something, you can count on one thing in this life, and that is the devil will always come snooping around when you are being blessed by God. You can count on all hell breaking loose just as soon as you start getting on fire for God. He will try to destroy you and everything you have. He's a spoiler, a destroyer, and a thief.
So here's Jehoshaphat going on with business as normal when someone brings the news that the whole kingdom is surrounded by enemy troops. Their own forces were literally outnumbered 110,000 to 1. But, do you know what this good King does? He said, "Tell everyone in the kingdom, that it's time to fast. It's time to go to the temple and call on God."
That's the problem with many of us today. We try to handle our own problems, when we should be turning our faces to the One who can help, God! When you are surrounded by the forces of darkness, and it seems there's no way out, just turn to God!
After Jehoshaphat prayed, he waited. What was he waiting for? An answer! He actually expected to hear from God. I believe that too many times we don't even expect to hear from God, and if He did speak to us, that it probably would scare us to death!
The Spirit of the Lord spoke and said, "Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.” I hope that you can see this principle of God's favor, and that is - when your under attack, why worry? It isn't your battle. It's God's!
When God spoke to Jehoshaphat here's what else He told him. He said, "Now here's your battle plan. I want you to choose an army of singers." Singers! But God, this is war. We're outnumbered. How are we going to to defeat these armies by singing to them? But God just kept right on talking, "Didn't I tell you it's My battle? Now hush and do what I've told you. Get 20 of the best singers you have, and at dawn go into their camp. Don't sneak in but sing the whole way marching in. You need to let them know you're coming. Got it? Okay, here's the song I want them to sing, "Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever.”
Picture this – it's now the next morning, and down in the enemy camp there is one man standing guard while everyone else is asleep. All of a sudden that guard hears a noise. Twenty voices begin to sing, and their song vibrates from the mountains. The sound hits one mountain and echoes to another then another. What is only twenty voices now sounds from the mountain's echoes like a million voices. The guard wakes up everybody, crying out, "It's Jehoshaphat, with an army. He has hired troops. And it sounds like a million of them."
Can you just imagine waking up in the middle of the night hearing somebody shouting, "Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever?” 2 Chronicles 20:22 says, "And when they began to sing and and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten."
God sent confusion into the camp of the enemy, and they drew swords on each other. In their panic, they fought and slaughtered each other! And while they fought among themselves, God's little band of 20 singers marches on, singing, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever" Not one of them had a sword or spear. All they had was a song in their heart. And the enemy turned on each other! Then, after everything was over, there came a voice saying, "Didn't I tell you that the battle is not yours but the Lords?”
Hear me! Don't you ever lose your song. Don't ever lose your shout. Don't ever lose your strength in the Lord. With God ALL things are possible!
You say, “Preacher, that's all well and good but I'm on the verge of bankruptcy. Don't you think God knows that?!!" Help is on way!
You say, "But the doctor says there's no hope." There's a new doctor on the case now and He's Known as the Great Physician.
You say, “But I'm a sinner. I've done wicked things in my life." Oh, He knows it my friend and He wants you to know that He died for you. You can be forgiven TODAY!
All we have to do is Believe! Believe! Believe! And God will turn it around!!!