Isaiah 39

“And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures... There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.” (Isaiah 39:2, NKJV)

Sometimes the most dangerous temptation does not occur in difficult times but in prosperous times. Hezekiah had been a good king in Judah. He had brought spiritual reforms and successfully turned away the Assyrian army from Jerusalem. When he was deathly ill, he prayed to the LORD, and God granted him fifteen more years. But now a Babylonian envoy brought Hezekiah a “get well” gift, and Hezekiah showed them everything. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that he did not show them. But Hezekiah took pride in the gifts of God, and he showed off.

We are told in 2 Chronicles 32:31 that God withdrew from Hezekiah, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart. God left him alone to see what he would do.

There is never a time when we are “out of the woods”. We are constantly in spiritual warfare, and often we don’t detect the enemy’s tactics until we have already fallen prey to them. I believe that at least half of the battle is simply to recognize that we are being tested. If we know that we are under spiritual attack, then we will be more aware of the devil’s schemes.

Have you been tempted recently? How did you do? If you yielded to temptation, where did you go wrong? None of us are sinless, but we can learn from our failures so that we do not repeat them. Remember Paul’s words of encouragement to those who are tempted:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)

When temptation comes, look for the fire escape!