Bad news seems to be inevitable. It seems like sooner or later, everyone gets some bad news in one shape or fashion. From job layoffs to cancer – bad news reaches us all.

It was no different for two ancient kings of Israel.

Hezekiah received some bad news via a pretty reliable source. The prophet Isaiah told him, “Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.” (II Kings 20:1) I think that qualifies as bad news.

Then, a few years later, another king – Josiah – was told of impending doom on Jerusalem decreed by the Lord as a result of Israel’s constant idolatry. He said, “My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.” (II Kings 22:17) More bad news.

Both men, though, got through to the heart of God the same way. Both men were able to modify the pending destruction on themselves and their city by use of the same means. What was it?

Tears.

After Isaiah gave Hezekiah his death sentence, Hezekiah prayed and wept before the Lord. Josiah acted similarly and asked God to reconsider. What was God’s response? In the first case, God told Isaiah to go back to Hezekiah and tell him, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.” Josiah was told, “because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord . . . and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you.”

This leads me to wonder how many prayers go unanswered today because of the dry condition of our eyes. How many wayward children are still wayward, how many marriages still struggling, how many churches still lifeless – all because there was no desparation in prayer.

Of course it’s important to remember that David also wept over the life of his newborn baby boy who later died. Tears aren’t an automatic ticket to get whatever we want from God. But it is worth noting that not only does the Lord hear our prayers, He also sees our tears.

“Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” (Psalm 112:1,7)

The theme of my blog is simple: follow

If fact, the subtitle under my name on the home page simply means “I follow.” The Greek is simply a justification of the 4 semesters of undergraduate study which I invested.

As I recently read, “We all look like sheep from the front and shepherds from the back. In other words, we’re all following someone, and we’re all leading someone else.” (Breen)

It is a pretty simple concept – follow – but it is also one that I have been contemplating over the past three and a half years or so. As proof, I offer an article I originally wrote in the fall of 2008 when my life was in a state of flux due to a job change, school change for the kids, and soon-to-be church and house change. It reads as follows:

In the blank pages of my Bible in the front and back, I have written down quotes that have stuck with me over the years. Most of them were spoken in a sermon, and I jotted them down so that I could go back and read them again and remember what they were. Several of them are from current or former Pastors. A sampling includes the following:

“It’s not how loud you shout or how high you jump, but how straight you walk when you hit the ground”

“We don’t need a God who gives us everything. We need a God who is our everything.”

“A preacher should be just as concerned with what his people do with the sermon on Monday as he is with how he gives it on Sunday.”

“Jesus chooses men not on the basis of what they are, but on the basis of what He can make them.”

“You can never have freedom from Christ. You can only have freedom in Christ.”

“Worship always originates with God. He reveals Himself, and we respond. That is genuine worship.”

“Wind watchers will never be wave walkers” (Matt. 14:30)

I feel so blessed to be able to learn God’s word from men who are older and wiser than me. I’m grateful for Godly examples to follow – which brings up a quote that is both simple and profound, and exactly what I needed to hear tonight. Dr. Charles Petitt was speaking at a Missions Conference and spoke from Matthew 16:24 which says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Such a familiar verse, and yet so ignored. Remarkably enough, it wasn’t the first two parts of this verse that got to me, it was the last, “follow me.”

I’ve gone through a lot of change in my life over the past 6 months, but to my knowledge, God has not rescinded that call for me to follow Him. It is not always an easy thing to do. Many times my mind and attention wander to less eternal things. Many times my focus is on things which simply will not last. I’m caught focusing on the physical temporal instead of the invisible eternal. And so, the next quote that needs to go in my Bible, but more importantly lived out in my every day life, is this:

“follow, follow ……. follow, follow, follow…….follow, follow, follow, follow, follow.”