How to overcome the crisis
Contents
▒▒ Bible : 2 Chronicles 32:1~8
There are 41 kings in the Old Testament. Among them, three great kings can be selected: King David, King Hezekiah, and King Josiah. All three of them reigned in different eras, but all three had a common characteristic. One of them was that it was difficult when the three were kings.
Another common feature of the above three kings is that David, Hezekiah, and Josiah all ruled with difficulty, but in the midst of difficulties, they only served God. So, according to the Bible, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart.” “There has never been a king like Hezekiah before. God was with Hezekiah, and Hezekiah’s future prospered.” “There was none before Josiah, nor after Josiah, who followed the law of the Lord God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength.” To this extent, the Bible praises the three kings.
Today I would like to think about King Hezekiah in particular among these three kings. Hezekiah did three major things. King Ahaz, did the work of cleansing the temple that his father had defiled, and made the Passover, which had not been celebrated for a while, be celebrated. Finally, Hezekiah reestablishes all faith to serve God. All religious reforms were accomplished so that we could serve only one God.
The problem, however, is that the first thing that happened after he had done this faithful work was that Sennacherib of Assyria brought 185,000 men and surrounded the city of Jerusalem. Instead of being given the reward of God's blessing, a crisis came. In our opinion, it doesn't make sense. If you have done many good and good deeds like Hezekiah, shouldn't there be no difficulties in the way ahead? Hezekiah, however, was faced with difficulties as the city of Jerusalem was surrounded by enemy forces. It is a situation that can be questioned by God.
But this verse fits our situation perfectly today. Is everything that you say you believe in Jesus going well? No matter how hard we believe in Jesus, difficult things come in our lives, big and small. That's the reality. After all, even when good things should happen, bad things often come before us. It may be said that that is the field of our lives and that is why life is like confession.
But today's text gives us a valuable lesson, how did Hezekiah overcome the crisis in the face of this difficult task? is to do The first thing Hezekiah did was bring water from outside the city into the city. King Hezekiah brought in the water from the outside so that the people inside the city could live even if the enemy was surrounded by them. They dug the water from the Gihon Spring into the ground and brought it into the city. Then the walls were rebuilt, the towers were built, and all the weapons were crafted. When a crisis struck, Hezekiah prayed. However, it is the fact that, in addition to praying, he thoroughly did what he had to do and what he had to do in times of crisis.
And how did this Hezekiah overcome the crisis? In verses 6-8 we read, “O people, do not be afraid or worry. They depend on their arms, but we depend on God with us. God is with us. God will fight for us, defeat us, and protect us. Trust that God is with us.” Then the people heard this and the people were relieved. As such, Hezekiah trusted God absolutely. As Hezekiah says in Deuteronomy 28, “Only if you listen to the word of the Lord God and obey it, if you obey His word without turning to the left or right, you will be blessed whether you come in or go out, and the soldier who has attacked you will come in one way and will be driven out in seven ways. .” He completely believed in these words. The important thing, everyone, is to have faith in the fact that God is with me in this crisis and difficult times.
C.S. Lewis points out that, in fact, it is our emotions and our imaginations that break our faith. He points out the fact that if we Christians live led by our emotions and imagination, our faith will be broken. We Christians are telling us that we should live a life led by the words, “Even though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, Your rod and Your staff comfort me.”
The Assyrian army of 185,000 men was enough to shake Hezekiah's emotions and imagination. Emotionally, I could only tremble with fear. However, King Hezekiah was not moved by such emotions, but overcame the immediate crisis by relying on God's word, “I am with you.”
God is a God who hears our prayers. In this way, 185,000 people came to kill Hezekiah, but the next morning, they were all turned into corpses. World history is talking about the plague. But, everyone, the Bible says that God's angel appeared and defeated them all.
It is our God who hears our prayers, sees our tears, and blesses us. How did you overcome the crisis? Hezekiah did what he had to do. We, too, must do our duty faithfully and do our job well. That is the greatest virtue of a Christian. You cannot overcome a crisis without doing your own thing. This is the first step in overcoming the crisis, and I pray that you will be answered by praying to God who surely trusts God is with you, who hears the ideal of our prayers, and overcomes the crisis. Congratulations.
2007-11-09 21:46:58