God Can Do Anything (2 Kings 19:34-35)

2 Kings 19:34-35

34 “For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

[This was one of the passages I pondered that turned into a devotion I put together for a team leader meeting this week at Super Summer.[

The situation was terribly grim. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and his forces were conquering everything in their path. They were the nation that it seemed was destined to dominate the world. No one could stand in their way. The Assyrians had taken Samaria and the entire northern kingdom of Israel captive.

Now, the massive Assyrian army had their sights set on Jerusalem. Hezekiah, the king of Judah at that time, had nothing, absolutely nothing, that he could do to defend himself. The Assyrians were even taunting Judah by saying that they would give them 2,000 chariots if they could find enough men to man them.

But Hezekiah turned to the Lord, and God spoke to him through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah made it known that the King of Assyria would not take Jerusalem. He would not even fight at Jerusalem. Though a gigantic army was massing near Jerusalem, they would not even nick the wall with an arrow.

Then, that night, what we already read came to pass. The Lord sent a single angel, one single servant, and the angel struck down 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army. The battle was over. God won.

Here is the thing that I think we need to grasp this morning: we serve that very same God. Too often we think of things in terms of whether or not they are possible. Too often we think of things in terms of whether or not we have the strength to pull them off. But we fail to remember that we serve a God who did not strain himself when he took out an army of 185,000. We serve a God who spoke the stars into existence, created a universe out of nothing, and who certainly has the power to do more incredible things than we could ever imagine.

This morning, take time to remember the power of the God you serve. He can do anything. Yes, we say that easily, but do we buy it? He can do anything. Nothing is hard for God. Nothing makes him break a sweat. God can and will do amazing things.

And, what motivates God’s amazing action? It was for two sakes in verse 34. He did the amazing thing that he did for his own sake, for the sake of his glory, and for the sake of his servant David, his covenant faithfulness. God does amazing things when the point at issue is the glory and faithfulness of God. He will do amazing things to display for all to see the absolute awesome power and beauty of his glory. God will do awesome things for the sake of his covenant people.

So, this week, let’s have our minds set on two things. God can do absolutely anything. He is not limited. Do not let yourself think for a moment that nay task, any student’s problem, any struggle is too big for your God. Instead, dwell on the fact that the God who tossed the stars into the sky, who spoke the planets into being, who designed subatomic particles, and who struck down 185,000 soldiers in a moment is the God you are communicating with and serving this week. Second, remember that God shows his power when the purpose for that display is his own glory. So let’s focus ourselves on the person, the faithfulness, the glory of God, and let’s expect that we will see our God do what we never dreamed possible.