What We Do With Grace
It’s been over a month since I’ve written something for this blog, but that by no means suggests that I haven’t been thinking about it. In fact, as I try to navigate this appointed season of rest, I find it hard to shut off my mind during quiet times. The gifts of grace have been front and center in my mind and personal life. How am I maximizing the benefits of the grace God has given me during this season? How do I value such grace? Likewise, am I a good steward or do I squander grace? Do I take my grace and withhold it for myself or am I using it to glorify God?
I think the answer for me (and I suspect for all of us) is that we all could be better stewards of the grace that God gives us. Whether it be everyday graces or miraculous workings, we have a responsibility to ensure we are using any particular grace in the manner that God intended. One of the scriptural passages that has always captured my attention is that which is found in 2 Kings 20 (as well as Isaiah 38 and 2 Chronicles 32). The Bible says that King Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” (2 Kings 18:3) He sought the Lord and restored the kingdom of Judah unto God after his father had raised idols to pagan gods and shut the doors of the Temple. By most historical measures, Hezekiah was a good man and great King. Most Christians know the king as a man whose prayer was so powerful that God changed His mind and healed him. But what we miss so often is what King Hezekiah did, or didn’t do, with this awesome wonder of God’s grace and mercy given to him:
1 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.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “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. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “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, 6 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.” 7 And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”
8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” 9 And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11 And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.
12 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” 2 Kings 20:1-19
As I mentioned before, I love this story in the way many other Christians do - as an example of the power of prayer. But I have come to understand and appreciate this passage as so much more than an example of prayer. This is, at its core, a lesson in “what not to do” with God’s grace.
Imagine being instantly cured from an illness that you were sure to quickly die from. Envision personally experiencing a miracle so powerful that dignitaries from other countries heard about it and came to see the living evidence. What an incredible honor it would be to be living proof of God’s power and love! What an awesome opportunity to show those who did not know God concrete evidence of His presence! Yet Hezekiah wasted it all. Instead of showing the death bed that God rescued him from, he showed his storehouses of gold and treasures. Rather than talk about the goodness and great mercy of the Lord, he boasted about his own accomplishments and acquisitions.
We read that there were consequences to Hezekiah’s selfishness. All of his great possessions would soon be plundered by the same people he was supposed to testify to. Yet still, Hezekiah did not understand the gravity of his mistake. Because he would have peace and security, he was unbothered by the prophecy that his sons would experience peril and oppression, all due to his own actions.
This story is such a poignant display of human ego, selfishness, and tendency to take God’s grace and mercy for granted. While we are not (literal) rulers of nations, we are guilty of no lesser transgressions. We are all walking miracles - inside of us are stories of extraordinary grace and mercy that have been extended to us for no reason other than God’s love. We have incredible testimonies of God’s victory, healing, restoration, deliverance and more, and yet our inclination is to display the parts of our lives in which we have accomplished something that society has deemed important. We brag about the feats that are humanly possible, and leave out the triumphs that no man could ever achieve.
The good news is that even though we are guilty a million times over, God does not hold grudges against us. We continually receive His outpouring of grace and mercy despite how we exploit it. But there’s an expectation that we grow in our relationship with God, learning to appreciate His gifts more and becoming better and more responsible stewards of everything He gives to us. And as we grow closer to Him, we will begin to see that, truly, we are recipients of daily marvelous benefits and accommodations.
Food for thought: Many of us have seen our prayers answered and experienced God meeting us in places of great need. What do we have to say about what we did with the results? God’s glorification was never intended to be contained within us individually; for it to be revealed, it must be released.