What Do You Do When Nobody’s Looking?

3. MIRACULOUS SIGN – SUN BACKWARDS. Hezekiah was told to ask for a sign & asked for the Sun to go backwards on staircase of Ahaz. What an awesome career!

II. GOD TESTS HEZEKIAH

A. WHAT IS CHARACTER?

1. God had given Hezekiah favor and success. Hezekiah had faced dire threats: a national invasion and imminent death.

2. If ever Hezekiah should have been close to God, humble, and relying on God, it should have been then.

3. But the visit of dignitaries from Babylon became the occasion of his character being tested by God.

4. CHARACTER (def.) - “A strong mental or moral nature in a person that makes them resist doing wrong (when others are doing it) or causes them to do what’s right even when threatened by danger.”

5. “Your character is what you are when nobody’s watching.” That’s why the Bible says that when the envoys arrived from Babylon “God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart” 2 Chron. 32:31.

6. That means God quit offering him moral support and let him stand on his own character

7. “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ― John Wooden

7. There are many areas where people slip on their character:

a. We cheat a little on our income taxes;

b. We tell lies to escape a bad situation;

c. We fail to keep commitments, promises;

d. We say flattering things to those we want to impress;

e. We say unflattering things about our coworkers or boss;

f. We’re mean-tempered with our spouses because we can get away with it;

g. We let our anger flare up against our kids;

h. After we know we’ve been hurtful to someone, we don’t apologize—we just ignore it.

8. HUMOR: The back seat champion

a. Bertha couldn't ride in a car without telling whoever was driving what to do, when to do it, etc. She was, bar none, the worst back seat driver in the world.

b. Her husband Morris told her so, but she would deny it. She claimed she seldom, if ever, made comments about his driving. Then suddenly, there was proof.

c. One day, Morris was driving Bertha and their grandson Tommy to the shopping mall when little Tommy piped up, “Grandpa, before you married Granny, who told you how to drive?"

B. WAYS WE ARE TESTED

1. Difficult circumstances over a long period of time (like Joseph, Gen. 39-40);

2. Physical & emotional hardship (like Job 1-2);

3. Delayed fulfillment of God’s promise (like Abraham & Sarah having a son, or Joseph’s dreams being fulfilled);

4. Difficult test of Obedience (Abraham & Isaac, Gen. 22);

5. Times of spiritual dryness in the believer’s life. ALL THESE TEST OUR CHARACTER!

C. HOW TO RESPOND TO TRIALS

1. Learn to Trust God & be faithful; maintain godly character and be obedience, even if it hurts.

2. REMEMBER THE PURPOSE: “[God] knows the way I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” Job 23:10.