Your Attention, Please
16. At that time King Ahaz of Judah asked the king of Assyria for help.
17. The armies of Edom had again invaded Judah and taken captives.
18. And the Philistines had raided towns located in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev of Judah. They had already captured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages.
19. The Lord was humbling Judah because of King Ahaz of Judah, for he had encouraged his people to sin and had been utterly unfaithful to the Lord.
20. So when King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him.
21. Ahaz took valuable items from the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and from the homes of his officials and gave them to the king of Assyria as tribute. But this did not help him. 2 Chronicles 28:16-21
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Imagine this scenario and see if it has ever been your experience: Carla is trying to get the attention of her husband, Bob, who is across the room. “Bob, would you come here for a moment?” Carla waits. No response. “Bob?” Still no response. “Bob?” The plea is more insistent now. Still no response. Finally, “BOB!” “Huh?” he finally replies. He heard, but he didn’t hear.
This parallels how God tries to get Ahaz’s attention. This passage tells the story of Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz, all kings of Judah. Ahaz wins the award for Most Stubborn Rebel. In this passage, God uses hardship after hardship to shout to Ahaz, “Listen to me!” God has a message for Ahaz, but Ahaz is too distracted by his wild living to notice. Take a close look at Ahaz and learn from his mistakes.
You will also see that Amaziah has a problem with half-hearted faith but still makes some wise choices; Uzziah has great success, then spoils it; and Jotham becomes a model leader.
As king of Judah, Ahaz had nothing but trouble. When his troubles hit, he was already in the midst of terrible sins; these problems were his wake-up call—his opportunity to hear God. How did he respond? He refused to listen and committed even more evil (2 Chronicles 28:22).
No one knows why bad things happen to people. From the beginning of time, people have tried to invoke universal explanations. The truth is, we can’t know exactly why tragedies occur. We cannot know why they happen to us. But when they do happen, we must remember to ask how God might be attempting to get our attention to correct us.
When troubles hit, we need to respond to them as our teachers. Through hardship, God disciplines his children in love (see Hebrews 12:7). Rough times give us a chance to grow (see James 1:2-4). When you are facing difficulties and struggles, don’t turn away from God—turn to him.
