Sennacherib!

Hi! It's me. Before I dive into the next part of my story, I just wanted to tell you that sometimes when I read to my kids I pretend I'm British. They just roll their eyes and tell me to cut it out. Also, I wrote a poem for you:

Roses are red

I don't have a dog

My toenails are pink

Thanks for reading this blog.

In addition to this lovely poem, I want you to know that if you are reading this, I have been praying for you. I am not writing this story just for kicks. I want people to know how good God is. So many of us walk around thinking He is angry or demanding or just indifferent, but that isn't so. I want you to know He is good. I pray you do.

The Wednesday night after I had been anointed with oil, My mom took me to the ER. My husband Bob was unavoidably out of town and my symptoms were worsening. I had already had an MRI of my brain and plenty of blood work done, but no answers so far. At the ER, I had a CT scan and more blood work and was told that I most likely had diabetes. This only added to my confusion. I had no symptoms of diabetes at all. It didn't add up. But it had to be ruled out before we moved on to other things like brain tumor or multiple sclerosis.

Back at home that night, I was alone and confused and wishing I could know what was wrong with me. As I lay in my bed I remembered my vow not to throw away my confidence in the Lord. I felt better knowing that He knew exactly what was wrong with me, even if I didn't. And yet, as I drifted off to sleep, I was thinking, "If I only had a name for this..."

Al2

I had a dream that night that I was being grabbed by my back so that I flopped down like a rag doll. The thing holding me was evil and swirling me around and around. I wanted it to stop, so I tried to talk. I knew I wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come. Finally I managed to yell, "I trust in God alone!", and everything stopped.

S E N N A C H E R I B

I then found myself looking up at a word. The word was big, and I was small. I didn't recognize the word or know how to pronounce it, but I knew it was important. I spent the rest of the dream telling myself to remember the word. I spelled it out over and over. (The pronunciation is sen-AK-e-rib, by the way.)

When I woke up, the first thing I did was look it up in the dictionary. My heart was pounding as I flipped the pages, longing to understand my dream. The word was not in my dictionary. Deflated, I let out the breath I had been holding. I figured I had wanted a name for this sickness so badly, my sub-conscious had invented one. But I couldn't let it go. I sat down at the computer and googled it. And there it was! It popped up with a Bible reference in 2 Kings. When I saw that this was a real word and it was in the Bible, I couldn't hold back the tears. Even though I still did not know what the word meant, getting such a specific message from God made me feel so loved. It touched me in a way I cannot describe, and He knew that it would. That's why He did it.

Remember how I was wanting a name? Well, Sennacherib is not just a word, it is a name! He was one of the kings of Assyria. 

 

The whole story can be found in 2 Kings 18 and 19 or 2 Chronicles 32 or Isaiah 36 and 37. In summary, Hezekiah was a king of Judah over God's people. Sennacherib was the king of Assyria that came and threatened Hezekiah and his people. Hezekiah's response was to remain confident in the Lord and not to fear this threat. Remember my verse about not throwing away my confidence? Here is a quote from Sennacherib to Hezekiah that gave me chills: "On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have strategy and military strength-but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending that you rebel against me?"

Sennacherib did all he could to shake Hezekiah's faith and get God's people to doubt and surrender to him. He reminded them of his track record: Assyria had defeated every nation they challenged. He reminded God's people that the gods of those nations had not saved them, so what made them think that the Lord would deliver them from His hand?

Hezekiah took this matter to the Lord. He asked Him to see Sennacherib, to hear his threats and to deliver them. Well, God had some pretty harsh things to say about Sennacherib, ending with the promise that He would put His hook in Sennacherib's nose and His bit in his mouth and make him go back the way he came. And to Hezekiah, He said that He would defend the city of Jerusalem and save it. And He did. That night an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian army and Sennacherib went back home with his tail between his legs.

Now, isn't this just like God? I wanted a name, specifically the name of my medical condition. But He likes to look beyond the physical realm and get to the heart of a matter. There is always a spiritual side to what we see in the physical.  Whether we realize it or not, there are battles going on in the spirit realm between angels and demons. I was reminded once again through reading these passages to keep my confidence in God! Even though I still did not know what was wrong with me, I knew that more than a physical illness, this was a spiritual attack. But He was on my side! He was defending me!

I know this is getting long, but hang with me one more minute. Check out this verse in Hebrews 10:23. "Let us hold fast our profession of faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)" What is my profession of faith? "I believe God! I receive His son, Jesus and all he accomplished for me on the cross." Okay, now why do I need to hold fast to that? We wouldn't be told to hold fast to something unless it was trying to be snatched away from us, right? Our enemy is real and he tries to steal our confidence in the Lord. But let's not let him! Let's hang on! With God defending us, we are on the winning side.

More to come!