READING: 2 Chronicles 15-16, John 12:27-50
“Be strong; don’t be discouraged.”
2 Chronicles 15:7
I can’t begin to list the names of people who have been instrumental in encouraging me just when I needed it. Most of the time, the encouragement was to press on, to not give up, to not stop believing. The folks who have encouraged me most have been men and women who have been through the battles of life, but who have never stopped trusting God. They’ve walked with God with such ferocious passion and uncompromised obedience that I just knew I could trust their word . . . and therefore keep walking in the work and will of God.
King Asa experienced that kind of encouragement, too, though he faced a much more difficult scenario than I ever have. He had to root out idolatry, and he sought to lead the people to renew their covenant with God. Against that backdrop, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Azariah, who spoke these words to the king: “But as for you, be strong; don’t be discouraged, for your work has a reward” (2 Chron. 15:7). This message, “be strong and don’t be discouraged,” is a word we have heard before as God challenged His leaders to do His work (e.g., Josh. 1:6-7), and it effectively motivated Asa to press on. The writer of 2 Chronicles thus records, “When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim” (2 Chron. 15:8).
“He took courage,” the text says. It seems to me that it’s much easier to be brave in the Lord’s work when you know you’re not alone in the battle. Simply knowing that someone walks beside you, challenges you to move forward, and then picks you up if you fall can grant you courage to step more deeply into the war. That person may be your spouse, a fellow pastor, a staff member, a best friend, or a lay leader, but whoever that person is becomes critical to our walk. All of us need someone who occasionally says to us, “Be strong. Don’t be discouraged. God will reward your work.”
Be that person for someone today.
ACTION STEPS:
- Thank God for those persons who have encouraged you through the years.
- Make a phone call. Send an email. Make somebody’s day by being an encourager.
PRAYER: “God, thank You for the encouragers in my life. Help me to encourage someone today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Chronicles 17-18, John 13:1-20
