Daily PresenceSample

Parents carry a complicated title in our lives. Each parent-child relationship is unique to the individuals involved, but I’ve yet to come across a parent-child relationship I’d describe as “simple.” As adults, a small majority spend their lives emulating excellent parents but most spend their lives unraveling the toxic ties built between themselves and the unhealthy people who raised them. In fact, I’ve met several adults who have never even met their parents but still feel a certain “influence” based on a few stories they’ve gathered over time. Parents serve as an example, whether good or bad, but God calls us to live based on a new example; His own.

King Hezekiah came into power after generations of ungodly examples. Most Kings had fathers or predecessors who reigned the same way as their sons. Idolatry and rebellion were passed on like genetics. But Hezekiah was different. Based on what we read in scripture, he was raised and influenced by those who had turned away from God, but he chose a different direction for his own life. And it wasn’t as easy as turning left or right. He had to literally tear down these sinful and idolatrous leftovers and completely rebuild the faith of a nation. This took courage, time, and planning but most of all, it took a new reliance on a forgotten God.

Paganism and sin were Hezekiah’s default. The unholy things of generations before him were demonstrated over and over again in his young life. But Hezekiah doesn’t simply internalize the sins of his fathers and revert to their example. He doesn’t let the sin of his fathers become an excuse for his own. Instead, he tears them down and returns to faithfulness. He only succeeds in this by the power available to him through his relationship with God!

Hezekiah values his heavenly Father and chooses to follow in a spiritual set of footsteps instead of the ones marked out for him in the natural world. Through his faithfulness, Hezekiah gains access to the ear of God and saves his people from destruction! Let his example serve in the place of the influence we may have received from unfaithful generations. Through Christ, we have the power to tear down strongholds built by the past and move forward in freedom and faith!