If only it were true of me.

Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king quite like him, either before or after. He held fast to God—never loosened his grip—and obeyed to the letter everything God had commanded Moses. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures. 2 Kings 18:5-6 (The Message)

Man, I hope someday this could be written about me. Not the king part (though dominion over a small Caribbean island nation wouldn't be the worst life imaginable), but at least the "put his whole trust in God" part. The truth is that even as I encourage people around me to just trust God, I sometimes have a hard time letting go of things. This is especially true in our church right now. I want to think that people will be giving and trusting with their money and support the church, but I worry about it. I want to believe that God already knows who our next pastor will be, but I worry about it. In my heart, I really believe God has these things under control, but my mind allows me to worry about them. I pray about them, and say I'm "giving them to God," but then my claws come out and I grab them right back.

But, reading about the life of Hezekiah is encouraging to me. He put his whole trust in the God of Israel. Not just the parts with which he was comfortable. Not just the parts he didn't worry about so much, but his whole trust. In God. The God of Israel. He put it there. And left it. And didn't worry about it. Ever. Wow.

The cool part of the story for me was the last line in verse 6. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures. Because of his placing his trust in God, he was blessed. God held fast to him, stayed by his side, walked with him. Through his adventures. He still had adventures, yet God was with him. Good encouragement for those of us who are prone to worry.