What really follows our acts of repentance and faithfulness? 2 Chronicles 29-32

2 Chronicles 32:1 (NASBStr)

 After these acts of faithfulness Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and thought to break into them for himself.

Despite what Hezekiah did, mentioned in the last verses in chapter 31, God allowed chapter 32.   Obedience equals blessing but it does not exempt us from the affects of sin in the world. (Romans 8:1-25).  In our modern day view of God, had we read chapters 29-31 we would expect chapter 32 to begin as follows: 

After these acts of faithfulness Hezekiah had rest on all sides and lived prosperous all the days of his life. 

Yet, that is not what we see here.  The prosperity people of faith would have a hard time explaining the correlation between chapters 29-31 and what we actually read, above, at the beginning of chapter 32.   We should note, first, that Hezekiah's "work" in chapters 29-31 is not referred to as "acts of obedience" but "acts of faithfulness."   The distinction might be small to some, but it shows the reality of pleasing God.  Hebrews 11:6 states that without "faith" we can't please God.  Hezekiah's "works" in the previous chapter are actually based upon his "faith" in God and trust in God's Word, promises, precepts.   With that said, we see the King's faithfulness is not blessed with prosperity, but with more pain and suffering and threats of the world.  Despite true repentance and faithfulness, the evil King Sennacherib was motivated to come to Judah to besiege it.   We have been taught, falsely, that trailing behind our acts of obedience we will see the great blessings of God.  Yet, in this passage we see that despite their faith and repentance, the King of Assyria was allowed to invade Judah and besiege it. Rather than prosperity they were given a test.  As we read the rest of the chapter we see that God delivers him from Assyria, provides further blessings, and then, allows the King of Babylon to be the next 'tester" of his faith (2 Chronicles 32:31).   The blessing that follows obedience is not prosperity but rather the presence of God and the peace that comes, despite our physical well being.   Preachers of "blessing follows obedience" fail to describe situations like the above to point out the blessing may be a test of faith and will be the peace of God in the midst of fear, suffering and the unknown.   True faith in God is found in these times.