03.24_When God Humbles You Through Circumstances
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Welcome back to The Wise Swipe Podcast. I'm Natasha Drisdelle, and today's episode is one of those messages that I believe [00:02:00] every woman standing in the gap for her marriage needs to hear. And it's called When God humbles You through circumstances. Because if you're anything like me, it took circumstances for you to find.
So if you've ever found yourself facing overwhelming pressure, either your husband's decisions or outside interference to your marriage, or even just your own fear and your own triggers, your own wounds, this episode is going to meet you right where you are. Hezekiah specifically looking at two Chronicles 32 and two Kings 19, and how God used impossible circumstances to bring about humbling and deliverance in his life is gonna be the core of what we talk about today.
So let's get right into it. So the enemy attacks wherever you have idols dwelling, right? Hezekiah was king of Judah. At a time when the Mighty Assyrian army, under King Sennacherib was conquering nation after nation after nation, [00:03:00] and they had their eyes set on Jerusalem next, which would be terrifying, right?
So here's the backdrop. Israel had been worshiping idols. You find this in Second King, 1733. They were giving lip service to the Lord, but their hearts were far from him. So. Our idols give the enemy an advantage in battle. When Satan's senses an advantage, when there is an open door, he is going to attack.
In fact, all of his work, everything that he tries to do in your life is all about finding those open doors. He is a shrewd investor. Okay. I call Satan the, the wisest investor because he knows how to get a great return on his investment and he knows when to stop investing. So if you've ever done any type of investment, you know that one of the hardest things is to make sure that you're investing in something that has a good ROI.
So what is the chance that I'm going to get a return on my investment? Satan is an excellent investor. He, [00:04:00] he has a. Thousands of years of practice in knowing what of his finite resources, okay? The limited resources that he has, what is going to be the thing that produces the best chance at results? So he's a long-term investor, okay?
'cause he sees, some of you have anointings on your generational bloodlines. Some of you have anointings you don't even know about, that you haven't even tapped into, but he knows it. He sees that there is this pattern in your bloodline that makes you a threat, and so he's going to absolutely focus resources to make sure that that anointing never comes to pass.
Okay? So he is a long-term investor, but he also knows how to get a quick return on his investment in a quick little, you know, one time easy investment. That might just be a quick ca cash return. He knows that. And so what I always tell my wise wives is be the worst investment possible for the enemy, and he will stop.
Wasting his resources on you. Okay? This is what we talk about becoming spiritually dangerous. [00:05:00] Where it's like, I'm not, you know, not only am I now not a good investment to you, but I am actually your competitor now. I am actually countering where you invest. I. Also invest. Okay. So, um, just as a side note here, when he sees an open door, he attacks because he is a wise investor and he doesn't waste his resources.
Um, he's always scheming. The Bible tells us this. So now many of us here can relate to where Hezekiah was, right? Because when the attack comes, our instinct is to scramble. Right, just Hezekiah. He, he scrambled, he strengthened the walls, he secures the water supply. Uh, in two Kings 18, 13 through 16, he, he strips the gold off the doors of the Lord's temple to try and placate the enemy.
Like, he's like, literally like, Hey, you know what, uh, I tried to like defend myself, but now I'm just gonna like, beg for mercy and I'm gonna give you every single thing of value that I have. [00:06:00] So think about that. In order to keep the peace, he gives away what actually belongs to God. And we do this too. We give away our peace, our boundaries, our worship thinking that if we just comply, the pain will stop.
But here's the truth. The devil doesn't stop just because you give him what he wants. That payment will never be enough. The compromise never satisfies the enemy. He just wants more, right? Because like any investor. If he sees that his investment is creating a return, what do they do? They invest more. They invest more.
If they're getting a good return on their investment, they're like, Hey, forget investing over here. I'm gonna start doubling down on my investment over here. So even as Hezekiah is doing all of this, right, he's scrambling. He's also trying to encourage his people, and he goes on to tell them with us, is the Lord our God to help us [00:07:00] and to fight our battles?
Amen. Two Chronicles 32, 8. Okay. This is where many of you find yourselves. You're standing in the tension between faith and fear. You're wanting to trust God. You're wanting to believe that he's fighting your battles, but you're still feeling the urge to fix it yourself. Let me remind you of Za. In one Chronicles 13, nine, he reached out to study the arc of God because he thought he was helping and God struck him dead because God was like, I told you I didn't need your help, and you just defied my commands.
God doesn't need your help. He does not need your help. He needs your obedience, your trust, your surrender. And that's more for you, by the way, than for him. He doesn't really need anything from you. He needs nothing from any of us. But that's for your sake, your obedience, your trust, your surrender. That's all for your sake, okay?
But now [00:08:00] Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, he sends messengers to mock God. Okay? So the, the, the, the begging and all the money and compromising his values as Hezekiah did he compromised his values. It still wasn't enough, right? So now Sennacherib is saying, your God can't save you. None of the other gods could stop me, and yours won't either.
You can see this in second Chronicles 32, right? He's mocking God. Does this sound familiar? Because that voice in your head, that mocking tone from your husband, from family members, from friends, even sometimes from pastors and people that should know better, that's that accusation that's coming at you.
Sometimes it's even just your own internal shame. Okay? The enemy will use whatever he can to intimidate your faith to get you feeling like God is no different than the powerless idols around you. But the pain doesn't stop when you submit to fear. It only feeds it and makes it stronger. Okay? The pain stops when you [00:09:00] align with the Lord.
And of course, I'm just gonna say here, of course, even when we're aligned with the Lord, they're still suffering and there's still pain per se. But I'll tell you from personal experience and from watching so many women go through it, that the suffering of discipline, the suffering of feeling. The consequences of the law of reaping and sowing and that we have, we planted these seeds and now they've grown.
And I, I I say it again. Even if you have been a complete victim in your marriage, you have still planted those seeds. You planted the seeds of allowing someone to use you. You planted the seeds of allowing someone to take advantage of you and coddling their sin. Those are seeds you planted and they're growing a, a harvest that you don't like.
Um, for those who are more like me, where I planted seeds of. Of self-righteousness. I planted seeds of thinking I'm better than my husband. I planted seeds of dominance. Okay, well tho those grew some nasty crops and I have to harvest the crops. You have to harvest them. [00:10:00] You can't just let the the crop come up and let it die in the field.
It doesn't work that way. 'cause that makes it even worse. God allows that harvest to come and he allows you to till that soil and he allows you to now plant new seeds. And that's what many of you are doing, even just by listening to this message. So. Ultimately, uh, the pain doesn't stop when you align with the Lord completely, but it sure gets a lot easier because you can see it now for what it is.
It's, it's the, the, the pain of tilling that soil and allowing all those old crops to go so that the ones can come in. Okay, so then we finally see where Hezekiah stops negotiating and he starts to actually seek. God. Right? He humbles himself. He consults the prophet Isaiah. This is in two Kings 19. He prays truly Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste.
The nations now, oh Lord, our God, I pray. Save us. Okay. Here are the key [00:11:00] elements of this moment. Number one, he faces reality. He doesn't pretend that it's fine, right? He doesn't deny the truth, but he doesn't let it have the final say. He's calling out what is true, but he's not speaking it out over his future like a word curse would be.
And then thirdly, he appeals to God's name and reputation, not his own righteousness. And then, and only then does God respond. So just like that, God sends an angel who wipes out the Assyrians Army's leaders, sinna Arab flees home in shame, and is eventually murdered by his own sons. And then two Kings, 1934 says this, for I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.
He noticed here God didn't save them because they repented perfectly. And he didn't save them because they acted out perfectly. He saved them because they repented. The king [00:12:00] openly acknowledged their need for him, for God to step in, and because God's name was on the line. I remember in my situation, in my, in my stand for my marriage and, and really being told over and over again like, I'm never coming home.
This is never gonna happen. I dunno why you're waiting, you're hurting yourself, you're hurting our kids. Get it through your thick head. I'm never coming home. These are the things, um, you know, I can laugh about it now, but, um, I remember that in those moments. I came to a place where I had prayed all the prayers.
You know, I had said all the things I had repented, I had, I had gone through all the steps I knew to go through. I had forgiven where I needed to forgive. I mean, I'd done all the things and I had fasted and I'd prayed and I'd prayed in the middle of the night. I'd prayed all through the day. I, I, I was in my word six hours a day.
Like, I was just like, it was like, what else can I do? And then. And I was reading throughout so much of the Bible, I would [00:13:00] see where God's name was on the line and I started to pray a little different. I started to pray like, God, I've stuck my neck out for you. It was like a little bit brazen. I'm not sure I recommend it unless you're, you have that kind of relationship with the Lord.
Um, I was like, Lord, I've done this for you. I've stuck my neck out for you. Everyone knows that I am a fool for you believing that my marriage can be saved. At what point do you want to reclaim your name? At what point will you act for your name's sake? And of course behind that also had to be the heart posture that I truly was surrendered to him and it was really for his glory, not mine.
I wasn't, um, this is where if you're in any type of idolatry where you are still idolizing marriage, you're still idolizing your husband, you're still [00:14:00] idolizing restoration where it's like this or else like, if God didn't restore my marriage, I'm a complete failure. That's idolatry. Okay. Um, if, if, if God doesn't gimme what I'm asking for, then somehow I am broken.
That's idolatry. Um, but I, I was, I was not in any of that. Like I truly was surrendered and sold out and was willing to do whatever the Lord wanted to do. So in that, I was able to pray that prayer of. Okay, Lord, I've, you know, show me if I'm missing anything, reveal any darkness in me. But what I can tell you right now is that your name's on the line, you are the one that is being shamed.
Not me. Not me, because I've, I've put it on you. Right. And it's, it's brazen, but I'm just telling you that's what I did and I really did see the Lord take action. Um, but again, it's not just the words. You have to also be able to back it up with a heart of total surrender. And like I said, God doesn't mingle with our idols.
Right. So there's, there [00:15:00] can be no I idolatry at play, but after this victory, okay, going back to Hezekiah, Hezekiah becomes prosperous and honored. His heart begins to lift up in Pride two Chronicles 32 31 says that God withdrew from Hezekiah to test what was in his heart. And ladies, sometimes when things start to look better, when your husband shows signs of life, when your prayers seem answered, that's when the real test begins.
Will you put your hope back in man? Or will you keep your eyes fixed on God? Will you keep surrendering even when things start looking less hopeless? Or will you go right back to stripping that gold off the walls and trying to manufacture your full deliverance? Because o oftentimes it's in that moment where it stops being totally hopeless and you start to see signs of life that you can slip back into some of those old habits.
And this is where God is testing your heart. He's testing to see, you know, when the rubber hits the road. Do you really mean all the things that [00:16:00] you said when you were hopeless, when you had no signs of life, when there was no way, but God for this to work so. Let me leave you with this. God honors those who trust him, right?
Deliverance doesn't come from scrambling, striving, or placating your enemy. It comes when you surrender fully to the Lord and step fully into your authority. As a child of God, right? So I'm not beholden to what my husband thinks of me. I am not defined. My value is not found in what a person or people think about who I am.
And so that even when you're surrounded, even when your strength is gone, even when the blasphemy is loud and cruel, and everyone though, you've put your hope in God, everyone is mocking him. By telling you you're crazy. 'cause that's a, a form of mocking. God, even when all of that is happening, you [00:17:00] recognize that your deliverance does not come from your own wisdom, but from a humble heart and a desperate cry to heaven.
So that is the heart posture that Hezekiah had. That's the heart posture that we must also have. Let's pray. Lord, I just thank you that you have established these models for us in the Bible, that there is just time and time again. All of these stories that we can, we can richly feed off of for the, for the truth in your word, the truth in your character, God, it is your character to, to allow our consequences to come because of the law of reaping and sowing because you have, um, set this world to be, uh, on legal, a legal system.
And that it never defies who you are and who you said you are. And God, I thank you that within that we can learn to operate. And that comes from us laying down all of our idols, laying down, all of our scrambling, all of our panicking, and instead just truly seeking you as the [00:18:00] only provider. Of our answer, the only provider of our deliverance God.
And so we lay it all down to you and forgive us for any times where we have scrambled, panicked, acted out in fear and not truly trusted you. Forgive us for our anxiety. Forgive us for our fear. Forgive us for any, uh, panic that we have brought because it was not. Putting our trust in you. It was putting our trust in ourselves.
It was being putting our trust in our circumstances. But God, we repent of that now and in Jesus' name. I declare that every person who has come into agreement with that repentance, even now as they're listening to me, that you would forgive them Father and release upon them a complete and new. Way of thinking that it would no longer be panic and triggers and fear, but instead healing now in Jesus' name over every part of their deepest soul wounds that have led to fear and panic that you would begin to exploit those wounds.
Sorry, you would begin to. To expose those wounds so that the enemy [00:19:00] cannot exploit them. Thank you, God, that you are exposing them now so that we can get the healing that we need so that we can have the healing that you have for each one of us so that we can walk out boldly independence on you because it takes courage to put your name on the line.
God, it takes courage to say that we are. All in on what your plan is. No matter whether we know it or not, we are trusting you. So, God, I pray that you would do a fresh wave of this over every person under the sound of my voice, that they would experience a freshness and a newness of the courage and the boldness that comes when we are marching behind you, when we are looking to you as our defender and not our situation, not our circumstances, not the things that people say, but instead just.
Purely looking at you as our defender. You are the ultimate general of this battle, God, and we def we just really submit that to you, that you would help us, help us to follow you [00:20:00] wherever it is you call us to go. In Jesus' name, amen.
