zarahlim
OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT
To the teacher: Read 2 Chronicles 31-32:23
Summary:
King Hezekiah obeyed God in all that he did. He sought God with
every decision that he made. He did it wholeheartedly so he prospered (2
Chro. 31:21). But after everything that he did, he was still faced with a
huge problem. His kingdom was invaded by the king of Assyria,
Sennacherib.
Hezekiah’s good attitude towards facing the problem helped Judah
from being captured by the Assyrian king. He refused to give in to fear,
instead, he held on to God. Because of this, God helped them win the battle
against Assyria.
Hezekiah worked wholeheartedly for God. He never hesitated to obey what
God told him to do. Because of this, he prospered.
 Most of the time, Christians take for granted their spiritual
life. We think that we already know so much about God
and the Bible and that we are already familiar with the
way things are happening in our spiritual life that we tend
to do things for the church / God halfheartedly. Because
of this we don’t get results when we pray. We wonder
why nothing is happening in our lives and we are not
getting anywhere spiritually. We wonder why our prayers
are not answered. Here we see that it is because we
don’t give our best for God. He deserves the best so we
should make Him the top priority in our lives. Serve Him
wholeheartedly then we can be sure to get exciting results
for our prayers.
In 2 Chro. 32:1, it tells us that it was after Hezekiah’s acts of faithfulness
that Sennacherib attacked Judah.
 Every Christian will be faced with trials & temptations to
test us & to strengthen our faith in God. It depends on the
person if he / she will give up or be strong and overcome
it.
 Sometimes when Christians are faced with problems,
especially after faithfully serving God, they will question
God. They’ll get angry with God, thinking that God has
forsaken them after everything that they’ve done for Him.
We should always keep in mind that every problem that
come our way don’t come from God. It is our own doings
that caused it. God only allowed it to happen so that we
can improve and strengthen our faith.
In 2 Chro 32:7, Hezekiah told the people to be strong and
courageous because God is greater than the king of
Assyria.
 Because of his great faith in God, God honored him and
did not let him down. Instead, they were saved from the
Assyrian king’s threats.
Sometimes we think that being a Christian is easy. We wont be
faced with problems once we accept Christ into our hearts. But
every true spirit-filled Christian can testify that once they accept
Christ, persecutions will come. But we should not be afraid of this
because as the Bible tells us in Luke 6:22 that we are blessed when
men hate us, when they reject us because of Christ’s name, because
through that situation we know that we are different from them.
They don’t want to accept us because we don’t want to do the
things that worldly men do.
So when we are faced with trials, temptations, and persecution, we
should not blame God for it. We should not be afraid because God
is greater than the things of this world. Once we put our trust in
Him, He will surely redeem us from our hardships. Then we can
earn rewards in heaven once we are able to overcome every trials
that come our way. We should not give up, instead, we should
always pray to Him continually (Lk. 18:1), pray without ceasing.
Memory verse:
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they
should always pray and not give up.”
Luke 18:1