Responding to Adversity

Imagine sitting in a doctor's office, waiting for test results. The oncologist walks in, sits down, and delivers news that shatters your world: "You need to get your affairs in order. You have only a couple of months left to live."

How would you respond? What would be your first thought, your first action, your first prayer?

This isn't just a hypothetical scenario. It's precisely what happened to King Hezekiah of Judah when he was just 39 years old. The story, found in Isaiah 38, offers profound insights into how we can respond when life delivers its most devastating blows.

The Shocking Announcement
Hezekiah had been gradually growing sicker, likely from what we might today call cancer—described in other biblical accounts as a boil or tumor. As his condition worsened, the prophet Isaiah arrived with a message from God that was brutally direct: "Put your house in order because you are going to die. You will not recover." Then Isaiah left.

Consider the weight of that moment. Hezekiah had no heir to take his throne. The Assyrian army threatened his nation. And now he was told his life was ending. No timeline given, just certainty: death was coming.

For most of us, receiving such news would trigger an emotional avalanche. We'd want answers. We'd want to know why. We'd scramble for solutions, second opinions, alternative treatments. We'd likely spiral into fear, anger, or despair.

But Hezekiah's response reveals something powerful about faith in crisis.

The Power of Turning First to God

"Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord."

This simple sentence contains a profound truth: our first response to adversity should always be to turn to God. Not to Google. Not to panic. Not to immediately call everyone we know. To God.

Hezekiah's prayer is remarkably honest: "Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." Then he wept bitterly.

At first glance, this might sound like Hezekiah is bargaining with God or claiming he doesn't deserve death because of his faithfulness. But a deeper look reveals something more human and relatable. Hezekiah is essentially asking the question we all ask when faced with inexplicable suffering: "Why?"

Throughout the Bible, people have operated under the assumption that suffering equals punishment for sin. Job's friends believed this. Even Jesus' disciples asked about a blind man, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

But Hezekiah's life had been characterized by genuine faithfulness. He had reformed worship in Judah, destroyed idols, and led the people back to God. So when faced with death, his confusion was genuine. His tears were real. His prayer was raw.
And God heard him.

The Swift Answer
Before Isaiah even left the courtyard, God spoke to him again: "Go back and tell Hezekiah... I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years to your life."
Fifteen years. Not just healing, but a specific promise with a timeline.

This is where the story gets interesting. When told he would live, Hezekiah asked for a sign. He wanted proof. God offered to make the shadow on the sundial go forward or backward ten steps—essentially offering to manipulate time itself. Hezekiah chose backward, and God made it happen.

Think about that. The God who created the universe reversed the shadow, either by moving the earth or the sun, to confirm His promise to one man.
But here's the question: Why didn't God just send Isaiah with good news from the beginning? Why the emotional rollercoaster of death sentence followed by reprieve?

The Refining Fire
God wasn't being cruel. He was refining Hezekiah.

We don't truly know the depth of our faith until we're required to exercise it. We don't know how we'll respond to crisis until we're in one. God allowed Hezekiah to face his mortality, to wrestle with his questions, to press into prayer with desperate intensity.

This is the refiner's fire—the process by which God purifies and strengthens our faith.

Consider Abraham, who waited 25 years between God's promise of a son and Isaac's birth. Why the wait? So that when the child finally came, there would be no doubt it was God's miraculous work, not human effort.

Consider Job, who suffered tremendously not because he had sinned, but because God was demonstrating the authenticity of Job's faith.

We live in an age of instant everything. Microwave meals. Next-day delivery. Immediate internet answers. We've been conditioned to expect quick results, and we bring that expectation into our prayer lives.

But God often works on a different timeline. Sometimes He answers immediately, like with Hezekiah. But more often, He asks us to wait. Not because He's slow or uncaring, but because the waiting itself accomplishes something in us that instant answers cannot.

Waiting forces us to press into God. It builds endurance. It reveals what we truly believe about His character when circumstances don't immediately change.

The Honest Reflection
After his healing, Hezekiah wrote a poem reflecting on his experience. His words are strikingly honest about what he felt during his illness:

"I said in the prime of my life, must I now enter the place of the dead? My life has been blown away like a shepherd's tent in a storm. I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart as though by lions. Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove."

This is not sanitized spirituality. This is raw human experience before a holy God.

But notice what comes next: "Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins." When was the last time you looked back on a difficult season and said, "That anguish was good for me"?

Most of us, if we're honest, are just relieved when trials end. We think, "Thank God that's over," and move on quickly. But Hezekiah recognized something profound: the trial itself had value. The suffering accomplished something in him that comfort never could.

Three Lessons for Our Own Adversity
Hezekiah's story offers three practical applications for when we face our own trials:

First, turn to God immediately. Make prayer your first response, not your last resort. Before you Google symptoms, call friends, or spiral into anxiety, talk to the One who holds your life in His hands.

Second, take God at His word. When God reveals His plans or promises, believe Him. You don't need to demand signs or proof. His character is sufficient guarantee. He is faithful and trustworthy, even when circumstances seem impossible.

Third, give God praise on the other side. When you emerge from the trial, don't just move on. Reflect on what God did and what you learned. Acknowledge that even the difficult seasons work together for your good and His glory.

The Bigger Picture
Hezekiah's story reminds us that even godly people face devastating circumstances. Faith doesn't exempt us from suffering. But faith does determine how we respond to it.

We may not understand why certain things happen until we reach eternity. But in the present, we can hold onto these truths: God loves us. He cares about us. He wants what's best for us. And everything He allows is designed to conform us into the image of His Son.

The next time you face your own "death sentence"—whether literal illness, financial collapse, relationship breakdown, or any other crisis—remember Hezekiah. Turn your face to the wall. Pray honestly. Trust God's character. And know that even in the valley, He is working all things together for good.

Your adversity may be the very thing God uses to refine your faith and reveal His glory.