Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.

2 Kings 19:14

‘Hezekiah was the King of Judah, and he had a nation to protect. The letter was from the biggest and most powerful bully of the day, and the situation was dire. The letter, from the leader of the Assyrian army, told Hezekiah that his God couldn’t help him, that nothing could prevent their total destruction. His army threatened to destroy Judah, just as they had done to so many other nations. 

When we are overwhelmed with fear, our first response is usually to panic. We let our minds spiral out of control and share our distress with friends or whoever will listen. When we have a big, life-changing decision to make, we seek advice and we look at statistics. We make our decisions even more difficult by looking at our circumstances through the countless perspectives of others. King Hezekiah’s first response was none of those things. He didn’t panic. He didn’t talk it over with his friends and advisors. He didn’t let his mind spiral out of control. He took his problem straight to God and spread it out before Him, because God was who he trusted. 

When you take your problems and spread them out before the Lord, you are giving them to God. You are trusting His plan and seeking His guidance. King Hezekiah understood that he alone was powerless against Assyria, but he didn’t panic or hesitate; he just took it straight to God. Will you do the same? Rather than holding onto the fear surrounding your difficult circumstances, give them to God. He will give you the only perspective that matters—an eternal one. He promises to fight your battles. Stressing over them only hurts you, so let Him guide you through every challenge and bring you peace. You are loved! 

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14