And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

II Kings 19:14-19

Hezekiah upon reading this letter became deeply vexed. What was his comfort in this time of trouble? He made haste to the house of the Lord, and spread out his problem before the Lord. When was the last time you laid it all out there before God?

We are quick to spread out our problems before our family. We unload on our co-workers. We even tell our fellow church members. We take our problems to anyone who will sympathize with us, yet are we taking it before God who alone can provide real help?

I’ve found from the hard schoolmaster of experience that the matters that I most need to spread before the Lord, I don’t. I keep them to myself to vex me, or I unload them to my wife or friend. Still, I don’t bring them before my Lord who awaits me that he might help me.

What happened when he spread out his problems before the Lord? In the next verse God, through Isaiah, says “I have heard.” He answers! All we have to do is lay it out there in it’s entirety before him and he will come to our aid. He has never failed us yet! NOR COULD HE!

Why is it that we fail to lay it before the Lord? Is it that we are too full of pride? Is it that we don’t want to give up control? Is it we don’t want to admit our problems? Maybe we are just foolish? I can’t answer that, but I can say there is not a good reason not to spread it before him.

So Friend, no matter the problems you are facing, just lay it out before him and await with eagerness the sweet sound of his voice whispering to your soul, “I have heard.”