What To Do When Trouble Comes (February 9, 2025)

Isaiah 37:14–20 (ESV) ~ Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”

What to do when trouble comes our way and let me tell you it will come. There is no stopping it nor denying that it will happen, trouble is coming to each of us at some point in time or another.

Trouble may come ..

• in the form of a single catastrophe or multiple small ones
• from a most surprising source or from an ongoing issue
• from our own folly and sin or not directly traceable to us at all
• by announcing itself by phone call or text message or face to face
• in the form of a serious diagnosis or prognosis from a doctor
• by the impact of colliding cars, a note in your pay envelope, or gradual erosion of a debilitating disease.

It seems to us that trouble is the rule, rather than the exception and nothing can prevent it from happening. Although we can’t prevent trouble or control trouble, we can control our reaction when it comes our way. We can determine whether it will make us sweet or sour.

In our text, Hezekiah has a four-step plan for handling trouble:

He went to the House of the Lord

• Most people today do the opposite, they drop out from the place of worship, which compounds the problem and makes it worse.
• Hezekiah was wise enough to know that the onset of trouble was more of a reason to go to church.
• There’s no better place to face your troubles than church; not the bar, not a bottle – the House of the Lord!
• Let’s look at some scripture that talks about the House of the Lord:

Psalm 73:2 ~ “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.”

Psalm 73:16-17 ~ “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.”

Psalm 122:1 ~ “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!””

Psalm 92:13 ~ “They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.”

Psalm 69:9 ~ “For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”

Psalm 26:8 ~ “O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.”

Hebrews 10:25 ~ “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

He sought the Lord Immediately

• It wasn’t his last resort it was his first – all other resources were secondary
• He moved toward solving his problem by seeking God’s help.
• You will never delay victory by stopping and asking God for His help!

Matthew 6:33 ~ “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Hebrews 13:6 ~ “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””

He Laid the WHOLE Problem Before God

• Hezekiah didn’t try to answer the letter, but referred it to the One who could do something about it
• He was not only willing to seek the Lord’s counsel, but he was willing to accept the Lord’s answer
• Too often we chart our own strategy, draw up our own plan and then ask God to fix our mess
• We don’t need to hesitate to completely surrender the whole problem to God and allow Him to guide our path

Isaiah 55:8 ~ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”

Hezekiah Prayed

• He didn’t merely spread out the trouble before God, but he talked to God about it
• God already knows, but God wants to know if you are going to talk to Him about it
• When we talk to God about the trouble, God will answer, just like he did for Hezekiah (I am not saying God will kill your trouble, but …)

2 Kings 19:35 ~ “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.”

God can change your living problems and troubles into dead ones if you will do what Hezekiah did: go to God’s house, seek Him immediately, lay down the trouble before the Lord and pray earnestly.