This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day three of week seven of our Look Through First and
Second Kings. We're going to look today from the example of Hezekiah at what to
do in your life, in my life, when the news is not good. From Second Kings 20, we
learn what to do when we've gotten bad news.

This may be very personal to you as I talk about this. You've just gotten bad
news this week. A friend of yours has just gotten bad news.

How do you handle it? We talk a lot about good news in church, the good news of
Christ, and we should, but what do you do when the news is bad? How do you
handle the bad news that you're facing?

What do you do in the face of that bad news? In chapter 20, Hezekiah gets some
bad news, the worst in fact. In verse one, "In those days Hezekiah became ill
and was at the point of death.

The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him and said, 'This is what the Lord
says. Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You will not
recover.

'" That was bad news for Hezekiah. So what do you do? This man of faith, this
king of faith, Hezekiah, teaches us what to do when we get this bad news.

Six things to do. First of all, you take inventory. That's the first thing
Hezekiah does.

In verse two, "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and he prayed to the Lord. "
Verse three, "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with
wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes. " And Hezekiah
wept bitterly.

Hezekiah took inventory of his relationship with God. He didn't take inventory
of how much stuff he owned or how his insurance policy was or any of those kinds
of things. He got this bad news about his life and the first thing he did is he
took inventory of his relationship with God, because he knew that was the most
important thing.

That was what was going to carry him through this time. Taking inventory
recognizes that God can use even the bad news that you're facing to encourage in
you a recommitment to the good news of Christ, the good news of eternity, the
good news of God's promise in your life. Now taking inventory doesn't mean you
have to point to a lot of mistakes you've made.

"Oh God, this is why this is happening. I did this and I did this. " That's not
what Hezekiah did.

He knew he was a man of faith. He knew he wasn't perfect, but he knew he was a
man of faith. So when the bad news came, the first thing he did is he reminded
himself, "I'm a man of faith.

I have devotion to God. This is who I am. " That's where you start, by
remembering who you are.

You take inventory and hopefully as a man, a woman of faith, you're able to say,
"This is who I am. This is what I'm going to stand on during this time. " First
you take inventory, second you express your emotions.

We just read that. End of verse 3. Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Here is a king who is not afraid to express his hurt when the bad news came. How
should a Christian, a follower of Jesus, react emotionally when you get bad
news? There's this popular strain of belief out there that goes something like
this.

If you trust the Lord, nothing's really going to upset you. You're just going to
smile your way through problems, sing your way through any tragedy, laugh away
all the sorrows. That's pure baloney.

I know that word's not in the Bible. That is pure baloney. The Bible commands us
to weep with those who weep.

What does that mean? That means the appropriate emotion for the appropriate
circumstance. Emotions are just a natural reaction to the circumstances of life.

If you cut off that natural reaction, you're not going to be able to get God's
strength and comfort like you need in life. The proper reaction of God's people
is to express and not suppress your God-given emotions. Of course, you weep.

You weep for the person that's hurting. You weep for yourself when you're
hurting. It's one of the things that you do when you face this bad news.

I know I'm walking through these quickly. We could spend a lot more time on each
of these because they're so close to our hearts and what we're facing when we're
hurt. The third thing you do is you focus on God's care for you.

Verses four and five. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the
Lord came to him. Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, this is
what the Lord, the God of your father David says, "I've heard your prayer and
I've seen your tears.

I will heal you. On the third day from now, you will go up to the temple of the
Lord. " "I've heard your prayers.

" Isaiah goes back to tell Hezekiah, "God is a personal God. He personally cares
more than you can imagine about the hurt that you're facing, that your friend is
facing, that the person in your family is facing right now. He personally hears
each word of your prayer as you talk to him about that hurt.

He hears your prayers personally. He sees your tears personally. He heals your
hurts personally.

" So you focus on God's care for you. That's why Isaiah was able to go back to
Hezekiah because God cared about what Hezekiah was going through. And then the
fourth thing you do and you start to see it in what we just read is you locate
your future.

You locate your future. You are not at the mercy of fate. You are not a victim
of circumstance.

Your life is not a matter of probabilities. Your life is in the hands of God. So
as we just read, go back and tell Hezekiah, "I've heard your prayers.

I'm going to heal you. On the third day, go up to the temple. " Verse 6 adds to
this, "I will add 15 years to your life and I will deliver you in this city from
the hand of the king of Assyria.

I will defend this city for my sake and the sake of my servant David. " In
Hezekiah's case, locating his future meant extra years of life on this planet,
extra years of serving God. It might mean that for you.

Whether you're healed physically or not is in God's hands. But listen to this.
Whether you are healed physically or not is in God's hands, but you are in God's
hands whether you're healed or not.

You're in God's hands as His follower for all of eternity. Nothing can change
that. And one day, His care is going to result in the perfection of heaven.

You locate your future. Sometimes the hope of heaven is all you have. It's more
than enough.

It's more than enough. It has carried generations of followers of Christ who've
gone through slavery, who've gone through martyrdom, who've gone through
torture, carried generations of followers of Jesus into places of hope and faith
and trust in God. So you locate your future.

That's one of the keys when you get the bad news. And the fourth key is you look
for assurance. You look for assurance.

"God, I need something in my life. I need your assurance that you're going to be
there as I face this. " In verse 8, Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the
sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord
on the third day from now?

" Isaiah answered, "This is the Lord's sign for you, that the Lord will do what
He has promised. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps or shall it go back ten
steps? " It's a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps, said
Hezekiah.

Rather, have it go back ten steps. And then the prophet Isaiah called upon the
Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps that had gone down on
the stairway of Ahaz. Now, you can sort of get this geographically or
meteorologically.

The sun, as it's coming up, the shadow's going down the stairs one step at a
time. And as the sun continues on, it's going to continue to go down the stairs.
Hezekiah says, "Could it go back up the stairs, ten steps?

That'll show me that God's going to do what He said He's going to do. " What a
strange story. Time seems to move back as this shadow retreats on the stairs.

But it's the sign that God gives to Hezekiah. He says, "God, that you have an
assurance that's more solid than a shadow. " Throughout the Bible, you find
people using the strangest methods to be sure of God's presence and direction in
difficult times, especially in the Old Testament.

They use fleeces, they cast lots, they make deals with God, they watch staffs
turn into serpents, they're always looking for signs. All that changed on the
day of Pentecost. Your assurance is not in a shadow on the stairs.

Your assurance is in the indwelling Spirit of God, God's voice, God's Spirit
speaking into your heart. So that assurance you're looking for, you say, "God,
would you speak to my heart with groanings even too deep for words? Something
beyond my emotions, even things I can put into words, would you give me an
assurance of hope as I walk through this, that I couldn't manufacture on my own?

" God's Spirit can do that. Now, if you've faced bad news, someone close to you
is facing bad news right now, let me just remind you, don't forget to take
inventory. Don't be afraid to express your emotions.

Don't forget that God is personal. Don't forget where your future lies. And
don't forget that you can look to the Spirit's assurance.

As we pray, I want to encourage you to pray just a very simple prayer with me
right now. Simply pray, "I'm in your hands, Lord. I'm in your hands.

" And that means that this problem is in your hands. That means that my future
is in your hands. That means that this bad news is in your hands.

It's all in your hands because I'm in your hands. I pray this in Jesus' name,
amen.