2 Kings 20:7-11: a reflection

7Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I will go up to the LORD’s house the third day?” 9Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.” 11Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

Hezekiah has been told he will recover, and Isaiah applies a simple cake of figs to the wound. But the king asks for something more: a sign that the Lord will really do what he has promised. He is not rebuked for asking. God stoops to strengthen a faith that wants reassurance, offering to move the shadow forward or back on the steps.

Hezekiah chooses the harder sign. It is an easy thing for a shadow to lengthen, he says, but let it go back instead. So Isaiah cries to the Lord, and the shadow retreats ten steps. The God who set the sun in its course bends even the falling of light to steady one man's heart. Nothing is too small or too great for him when he means to confirm his word.

You may sometimes feel ashamed of needing reassurance, as though real faith should never ask for help. This story says otherwise. God is patient with an honest request for confidence. When you are unsure whether he will keep his word, bring that uncertainty to him rather than pretending it away. He has many gentle ways of steadying those who want to believe, and he meets a searching heart with kindness.

Lord, like Hezekiah I sometimes need my faith steadied, and I am grateful that you do not scorn an honest request for reassurance. You bent the very shadow to confirm your word. When I am unsure, meet my uncertainty with your patience, and strengthen me to trust the promises you have made. Amen.