2 Kings 19 : 9-11, 14-21, 31-36 / Matthew 7 : 6, 12-14
Bad news always give us the shudders.
Whether the bad news come in the form of an email or sms or a voice-mail or even in a person, we crumble upon receiving the bad news.
The question is how bad is the bad news.
Is it a letter informing you about the termination of employment, or about debts not paid, or about a lawyer's letter suing you?
Any of these is bad news, and of course there are many other types.
In the 1st reading, King Hezekiah received some real bad news from King Sennacherib of Assyria.
Essentially it was a preview of the Assyrian invasion of Judah, the chopping up of the inhabitants and the skinning King Hezekiah alive and they can forget about asking for mercy.
It was a time for immediate panic, but here King Hezekiah showed us a beautiful example and an inspiring lesson.
The time to panic is also the time to pray, and to really pray.
To pray is to surrender to the Lord so that He will fight our battles for us.
To pray is to trust in the Lord and enter by the narrow gate, as Jesus said in the gospel, for the road of panic is wide and spacious but it leads to perdition.
So the next time when bad news send a chill down our spines and our legs go soft, let us do what King Hezekiah did.
Let us go down on our knees and pray to the Lord.
Better to surrender to the Lord than to surrender to bad news.
In the face of bad news, the good news is that the Lord will fight our battles for us...... only if we allow Him.