(What Is Too Big for Our God?)
Judah’s new king, Hezekiah, looked at the culture he inherited from his father. The picture was not pretty. His father had led his countrymen into total debauchery, walking in the ways of the kings of Israel. He made images for Baal, burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, sacrificed some of his children to the fire, and sacrificed everywhere but in the one placed where it was ordained, the temple at Jerusalem. In response, God sent the Northern tribes, the Edomites, the Philistines, and Assyria to ravage the countryside.
Hezekiah, by the grace of God, had a completely different spirit about him. He immediately sent the religious leaders to work cleaning out the temple whose doors and interior had fallen into disrepair. These men rolled up their sleeves and went to work with a vengeance. In only eight days after the initial edict, the job was completed. 2 Chronicles 29:36 described it this way, “And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
Encouraged, He commanded the priests and the Levites to sanctify themselves according to Levitical law to send the pleasing aromas of sacrifice heavenward for the worship of the Lord once again. Ironically, the elevated priestly clan were not as committed as the rest of the Levites who, “… were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.” Only a few more days passed before God put it into Hezekiah’s heart to celebrate the high festival of Passover which had been neglected for years.
A couple of months later, the Passover took place. Hezekiah even invited the Northern tribes who had battered and bruised their brethren during his father’s ugly reign. While the messengers were laughed to scorn in some areas, people from Asher, Manasseh, Zebulun, Ephraim, and Issachar joined in the festival that produced great joy among the people. Supernaturally, “the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.” Revival had broken forth in a very short time.
Like Judah, America has served false gods, aborted their children, and have stopped worshipping the Lord God. We are in an obvious spiritual decline that experts describe as post-Christian. Yet, we should take heart from this story of Israeli redemption. God can turn things around quickly.
If we, like Hezekiah, will seek to get our temples in order; if we, like Hezekiah, clean out the filth that has gradually accumulated in our homes; if we, like Hezekiah, “do what is right in the eyes of the Lord,” we too could potentially experience an overnight revival for nothing is too big for our God. Some lament the condition of the church in America. I understand the backslidden state of “evangelicalism.” The good news is that a move of God is not dependent upon church leaders—good or bad. Just as the Levites were more diligent than the priests in preparing for a new move of God, fathers and mothers can do so in their own homes. These little homes dotted along the countryside can then be means of grace that can affect the nation.
May the same spirit that came upon Hezekiah fall upon homeschooling households throughout the state of Illinois and beyond. With all the corruption our state has been known for in the past, would not it be like God to pour out His abundant mercy here, all for His glory and praise? I ask you, homeschooling parents, what is too big for our God?
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