[In the August 4 sermon on Psalms 75 and 76 (available soon at this link) we considered also the story of the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib threatening Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah, as recorded in Isaiah 36 and 37. The following devotion is taken from the concluding sections of a sermon preached in 2012 on that passage. You can listen to that sermon in its entirety  here.]

What is the difference between God and a genie who does for you whatever you wish?

You remember the story of Aladdin rubbing his lamp, causing a genie to appear who will grant his every wish.

What is the difference between God and a genie like that?

For many, there is no difference. The question many ask is simply: What’s the equivalent of rubbing the lamp? What words do I have to say or what rituals do I have to perform to get God to do for me what I want?

But biblically there is a huge difference.

God says: “Know Me. Trust my promises – particularly My promise of a Redeemer. Love me with all your heart. Follow me. Take up my yoke and learn from me. Hope in me. Depend on me. I will be God to you, you will be My people.”

When we have that sort of faith in Him, amazing benefits come to us. But note: He promises that by His mighty power we will accomplish His purposes – not that we will wield His power to accomplish our purposes.

When we face desperate circumstances, we naturally wish for an all-powerful genie who will perform our will. But time and again God has used His people’s desperate circumstances to bring them to repentance, to deepen their faith, and to advance His plan.

We see that in the case of the King Hezekiah when the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib attacks the Kingdom of Judah. As recorded in Isaiah 36 and 37, an Assyrian official comes to Jerusalem and calls out within the hearing of its residents, telling them not to trust in Hezekiah, not to trust in their God. For the Assyrians have conquered nation after nation, and no god has been able to resist them.

Hezekiah earlier has tried to protect the country through alliances with other nations – but now, driven to his knees by desperate circumstances, he prays an extraordinary prayer of dependence on God (Isaiah 37:16-20), which concludes:

O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” (Isaiah 37:20)

God then slaughters the bulk of the Assyrian army during the night. Sennacherib retreats home and, in due course, is assassinated.

What principles can we draw out for ourselves today concerning the desperate circumstances we face?

There are many; we will only consider three:

First: Desperate circumstances are a gift from God

Hezekiah needed desperation to quit leaning on his own understanding. As long as there was another possible source of hope, it seems as if the king would hold on to that alternative. But to Hezekiah’s credit, when all these other sources failed, he did not sink into despair but fully trusted in the Lord God.

We too often need to become desperate before we fully trust in Him. In my own life I’ve seen this time and again: In 1982, when I almost destroyed our marriage; in 1995, holding baby Joel in my arms, wondering if he was dying; in 2007 when we experienced a crisis at DGCC, and I wondered if this church was dying. In two of these crises, I called out to God in repentance; in all three, I cried out with tears, trusting in His promises.

I would never volunteer to suffer again the deep pain of those times. But I am so thankful to God for what He accomplished through them.

What are your desperate circumstances?

Know that, amidst all the genuine pain and sorrow, those desperate circumstances are a gift from God.

Remember our Lord Jesus’ desperate circumstances. On the night of his betrayal, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Amidst that genuine pain and tremendous sorrow, He voluntarily went to the cross, where God the Father poured out on Him all the punishment you and I deserve for our rebellion.

Those were desperate circumstances. And God glorified His Name greatly through them. Indeed, God made it possible for you to come to Him through Jesus’ pain.

In a similar way: All of our desperate circumstances are a gift of God.

Second: God sometimes calls us to put ourselves in desperate circumstances.

In general, there is nothing wrong with planning to avoid disasters. For King Hezekiah, there generally would have been nothing wrong with making alliances and strengthening Jerusalem’s defenses. But it was wrong for Hezekiah to prepare for the Assyrian invasion in these ways when God had said, “I will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes” (Isaiah 10:12). God called Hezekiah to step out in faith, to step out in way that other kings would not, to take steps that would lead to desperation.

And He often calls upon us to do the same.

So you see: Sometimes desperate circumstances simply come upon us, as in my case with baby Joel’s medical issue. Other times we must walk right into them, as in the case of Jesus and the cross.

Knowingly placing yourself in desperate circumstances is hard for everyone, but perhaps especially hard for Americans. Many of us grew up with parents who taught us prudence and emphasized security.

But know: the way of faith, the way of holiness, the way to God’s greatest glory may well require us to voluntarily take big risks.

Third: You are here to bring glory to God among the nations

Imagine that after hearing the Assyrian threats, Hezekiah finds a golden lamp. Upon rubbing it, a genie pops out, saying, “Your wish is my command.” Hezekiah replies, “Kill tens of thousands of the Assyrian soldiers this night.” The genie does so, and Sennacherib retreats.

Is there any difference between that story and the biblical account?

There is a profound difference!

• The point of the biblical story is not that Jerusalem was saved.
• The point of the biblical story is not that Hezekiah was smart or lucky.

The point of the biblical story is given in that concluding line of Hezekiah’s prayer: God is a great King, and His Name must be glorified among all nations.

Just so with us.

My friends,

• you are not in this world so that God can give you the easiest life possible.
• You are not in this world to collect the most toys.
• You are not even in this world to do what you think will help others the most.

You are in this world so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that He alone is God, that Jesus alone is worthy of praise, that Christ alone is worth more than all else in this world.

And that’s the message that will help others the most – even as you express love for them in a multiplicity of ways.

So how will you fulfill that purpose?

What is God asking you to do to bring this about?

In particular, What is God asking you to do that makes no sense? That is: That makes no sense unless Isaiah’s vision of God is true, that makes no sense unless Scripture is indeed God’s revelation of Himself.

He is faithful. He is loving. He guides every step of His people. He is King of all nations. He will glorify His Name among all the peoples – through you and me, through His people, often through our desperate circumstances.

So what’s your role in bringing that about?

How must you step out? What desperate circumstances must you face?

How will You glorify His Name?