In this daily Bible reading is the account of King Hezekiah becoming very ill. God, through Isaiah the Prophet, told Hezekiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” Hezekiah then cried and pleaded with the Lord to allow him to live. God granted Hezekiah’s request and added 15 years to Hezekiah’s life.
This seemed like a good thing to Hezekiah, but two very bad things happened during those additional 15 years. First, Hezekiah had a son named Manasseh. Manasseh would lead Judah astray to worship idols and do abominable things against God. Secondly, Hezekiah showed visitors from Babylon all of Judah’s treasures of gold and silver. Babylon eventually took these treasures from Judah.
However, the reign of King Manasseh was the worst, for his actions led God to remove Judah from the land. God would use Babylon to punish Judah and take them into exile. God knew these things would happen. He was intending to take Hezekiah out of the world before these things would occur.
This example shows me that indeed, God knows what is best for us. We must accept what He has in store for us, good or bad. Our prayer to God should be, ”May Your will be done.”
People wonder why bad things happen to good people. Hezekiah’s pending early death appeared to him to be a bad thing. However, it would have been a good thing in the overall scheme of things.
We cannot see or know what God knows, so we must trust Him. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
