“Staying Strong In A Troubling World”

Introduction

Family, the world is something that we cannot get rid of. It is full of trouble. Whether you are 15 or 50, we all live in the same world and we all face different kinds of trouble.

It is no secret, nor is it a surprise that we live in a troubling world and when we look around us and take a look at everything that is going on, it feels like we have reasons to cry and feel hopeless.

We live in a world where depression and discouragement is a reality. We live in a world where more teenagers are worried about being trend followers than being trendsetters. We live in a world where there are some people who cannot get regular access to basic needs, like clean water and healthcare. We live in a world that is full of war and conflict. We live in a world where we have some mean and corrupt people who are in positions of power. We live in a troubling world.

In this troubling world that we live in, our faith is tested every day. The enemy puts new challenges and troubles in our path, but brothers and sisters, I believe today that we have the answer. I believe that we have got to stay strong, even in a troubling world. And allow me to talk to you about that for a few minutes.

Text Context

The fifteenth chapter of 2 Chronicles is basically a reminder that God is faithful to those who are faithful to him. It encourages believers to trust in God wholeheartedly and to remove anything from their lives of anything that does not align with God's will.

There has been a constant theme all the way from 2 Chronicles 13 to 2 Chronicles 16. This is simply just relying on God. These four chapters have been talking about reliance on God, and let me let you know, family that you and I have to learn to rely on God. As children of God, we need to fully lean and depend on God.

In this chapter, the king of Judah is a man named King Asa. King Asa was the new king, and if we go back and look in 2 Chronicles 14, we will see that King Asa was a good and successful king. He did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord. He removed foreign altars and shrines, he commanded that the people of Judah seek the Lord and obey his law, and he overall made Judah experience a period of peace. But, he had a little bit of trouble.

An Ethiopian warrior attacked Judah with an army of 1,000,000 men, and King Asa was outnumbered, but I love what Asa did in this situation. He turned to God and asked him to help him and his army. See, family when you’ve come across some trouble, your back may be against the wall and it may seem like you can’t win, but when you put your faith and trust in God, anything is possible. When Asa turned to God and asked him for his help, his army won the battle, and did not even have to fight.

And so now, we get here to chapter 15. The text tells us that the Spirit of God came upon a prophet named Azariah(A-za-ri-yah). Now see, Azariah and his father Oded are not mentioned a lot in the Bible. Azariah was one of the lesser-known prophets in the early years of the kingdom of Judah, but he came and bravely spoke a word to a very successful king.

Azariah comes to King Asa with an encouraging word, telling him to keep going and continue his devotion to the Lord. Azariah puts emphasis on the God’s presence with his people. He says that when you stay with him, he will stay with you, and when you look for him, he will be found by you, but Azariah also tells them that when you abandon the Lord, he will also abandon you.

He challenged Asa to remain true to the Lord, so that he could experience and enjoy his blessings. Azariah goes into telling Asa about what was going on in those times. He reminds King Asa of the time when Israel was without God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them.

This bad state of Israel is a result of their overconfidence and distance from God. They had rejected God, they had rejected those who teach them the word of God, and they had rejected the law itself. But when Israel turned to God in the midst of all of this, and looked for him, God allowed them to find him.

Azariah reminds Asa that even when the people of God were set low because of their disobedience, God would restore them when they turned to him.

Azariah tells Asa about all of the things that were going on in that time. There was chaos in the world. It was nation against nation, city against city, and there was trouble with every person of every land.

But Azariah goes on to tell Asa to be strong and to not give up, because his work would be rewarded. These words are familiar to us because they recall the Lord’s words to Joshua when he was given the task of leading the Children of Israel across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. To be strong and courageous.

In spite of the great trouble that God had put on his disobedient people, King Asa should be encouraged to keep going and not give up, because what he would do for the Lord will be rewarded.

After this, Asa will go on to remove the idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and repair the altar of the Lord. He would go on to not only remove the wrong things, but restore the right things, and this concludes this 15th chapter of 2 Chronicles.

Body of Message

But the question for us is….how. How do we hold on to hope? How do we keep on keeping on? How exactly do we stay strong, even in a troubling world? Well, I believe that the prophet Azariah gives us the answer.

Seek God.(v. 2)

Azariah tells Asa that if you seek God, you will find him. To seek something means to set your heart and mind on something. It means to focus your attention and even affection on something. To seek God means to set your mind and heart on looking for him.

1 Chronicles 22:19 tells us to devote our heart and soul to seeking the Lord. We seek God through his reading his Word, through talking to him, through worship, etc. We as Children of God should seek God because when we seek God and draw closer to him, he will reveal himself to us.

Azariah tells Asa that Israel was without the true God, a priest, and the Law, but in their time of trouble, they turned to God, and he allowed them to find him. When they sincerely looked for God, things went well, but when they rejected him, their world came apart. The Word to the children of God of that time is clear to us, especially in the world we live in today: “If you seek him, he will be found by you.” When we draw near to God, he reveals himself to us.

But if we can be honest, we don’t always seek God. If we can be honest, we don’t always wake up in the morning with our minds on Jesus. We don’t always look for God, even when we’re facing trouble. Sometimes, instead of going to the Lord, we will to people and even to social media, trying to find an answer, but the text tells us that when Israel was in their time of distress, they turned to the Lord.

When Israel was in their time of distress, they did not go to people, they did not go to each other, they turned to the Lord. You’ve got to know who to turn to. We have to seek God. When you seek God, he will let you find him. When you actively search for God and try to find him, God will reveal himself to you. The thing is family, we cannot give up on seeking God, but instead we have to be diligent about seeking him and find him. 

EX: I know we are all more mature and we have grown up now, but I know that we all remember the fun game of hide and seek. Now I know and I understand that we have all grown up and we have gotten into fashion trends on social media and other games on our phones and other things, but playing hide and seek with your friends on the play ground was a time right there. Nothing could beat that. I remember when I would play hide and seek with my friends in elementary school and I would love when I got to hide because I knew hiding spots that they didn’t even know. I knew them all. And when I found a good hiding spot, and I hid, I could still hear them running and talking and looking for me, and I know I chose a good hiding spot because after some time would go by, I would still hear them running and talking, trying to find me. And after a minute, I would come out and reveal myself, only because I knew that they were actively and diligently trying to find me.

And family, that is the same deal with God. All I’m trying to tell you is that you’ve got to seek God, and when you actively and diligently seek him, he will reveal himself to you. You’ve got to seek God. 

Stay with God.(v. 2-3)

Azariah(A-za-ri-yah) tells King Asa in verse 2 that “The Lord is with you when you are with him.”  King Asa and the kingdom of Judah had just enjoyed a significant victory over a big army, so it would be easy for them to think that they did not need God anymore, but God speaks through Azariah to let Asa and all of Judah know about the importance of staying with God. Once you seek God, you’ve got to stay with him.

But the question for us, even in a time like this is Can we stay with God, even when things are going wrong? Can we stay with God when everyone walks away. Can we stay with God, even when it’s not the most popular or trendiest thing. Can we still stay with God? Some of us have slowly stopped talking to God, stopped reading his Word, stopped trying to grow in our relationship with him, and in turn, we have abandoned God and when we don’t do those things, then we are rejecting God and saying that we don’t need him, and if we are telling God that we don’t need him, then God will forsake us and turn away from us.

The truth is that if it had not been for the Lord, who was on our side, we wouldn't know where we would be. That’s why we come to church, that’s why we read God's word, that’s why we take time out of our day to talk to him, because we need him. We need his love, his grace, his mercy, and his comfort. You’ve got to stay with God. Time is filled with swift transitions, none on earth unmoved can stand, build your hopes on things eternal, and hold to God's unchanging hand.

Not only do you have to stay with God, but you’ve got to stay faithful to God. Azariah tells Asa of a time when Israel was without the true God, because they had rejected him. We have got to commit ourselves to staying faithful to God. God is always faithful, and he will stay faithful to you, but you have got to stay with him and stay faithful to him. 

EX: You know, the solar system is very interesting to me. But out of all of the planets, the starts, and everything else, the most interesting thing to me is the sun. The sun is a light twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. All year long, the sun just keeps on shining. The problem, however, is that the earth gets dark. With this, we ask the question: How in the world can there be all that light, and yet the earth still gets dark. It is because the earth turns. The earth gets dark because the earth is spinning on its axis. Therefore the side that faces the sun gets light and the side that is facing away from it does not. If there is darkness in your life, it’s not because God, who gives all light, is turning; it’s because you are turning. Just like the sun, he is always shining, we just have to make sure we are turned toward him.

We have to stay with God and stay faithful to him, and make sure that even in this world, we are turned toward him. We have to stay with God.

Stand firm.(v. 7)

Azariah describes the conditions of the time when Israel turned away from God. It was a time of chaos and confusion, but then he tells Asa that the word for them is to be strong, to not give up, because their work will be rewarded. In spite of the trouble that God allowed to come on his people, King Asa would be encouraged. This is a call to strength and perseverance in the face of difficulty and opposition. It is a reminder for Asa to remain steadfast, even when faced with challenges and trials. It encourages believers to stand firm in their faith and to not give up on their commitment to God.

Azariah tells Asa “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” The word “but” is used to introduce a phrase or clause that is different from what has already been said. When Azariah says to Asa “But as for you”, he is saying that even though there was a lot going on when Israel turned away from God, and there was a lot of chaos, the word for them is to be strong and to not give up.

There is a WORD FOR YOU. I understand there is a lot going on today and a lot of uncertainty, but I come to tell you that you are a child of God, and so therefore, the word for you is not to give in, it is not to lose hope, but the word for you is to be strong and to never give up. I understand that all of this is happening and everything is going in, but the word for you is to stand firm. But I have to let you know, family, that standing firm in your faith is not an easy job.

Standing firm can make you feel that God is not working. There are times when our faith will be tested, and we might wonder if our work will ever be rewarded. King Asa must have felt that way until God sent the prophet Azariah to encourage him. The prophecy was: "But as for you, be strong, and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded." It takes strength and courage to press on when there seems to be no light appearing at the end of the tunnel, but we oughta thank God that he is able to give us the strength to keep going.

You’ve got to have faith that your work will be rewarded and you’ve got to keep going, even though you may feel discouraged. You cannot allow your feelings to control your faith, but your faith has to overpower your feelings.

EX: Family, in order to stand firm, we cannot rely on how we feel. Our feelings, thoughts, and emotions go up and down. Let me help you out. It’s like when we go to see a scary movie. Now I know that we have grown up and some of us are not really scared of scary movies anymore, but I wanna talk to the few that can admit that sometimes those scary movies and those images can get a little scary. Now when you go see a really scary movie, you know that the characters are not real, but you’re still afraid. And let me tell you why this is. We can still be afraid sometimes because the people who make the movie can manipulate our minds so that we begin to feel a reality that is not real. We may know that it’s not real, but we still get scared, because in our minds, it feels real. It feels like the scary figure is just going to jump out of us, so therefore, we get scared. You see, feelings do not have the ability to think, they just react. All they can do is react. Having faith is not based on how you feel, it is based off knowing that if you keep on going, your work will be rewarded.

Sometimes we may feel that there is no point any more, but family, you and I are called to keep going, and because the word for us is to be strong and not give up, we have to keep coming to church and keep reading our Bibles because we have faith that our work will be rewarded We have to keep going and not give up. Keep reading your Bible, keep coming to church, keep praying, keep testifying, keep sharing the gospel, keep standing firm, because after a while, your work will be rewarded. We have to stand firm. 

Conclusion

Family, you and I are called to stay strong, even in this troubling world. The question is though how do you stay strong? We have to seek God. That means that we have to draw near to God, because when we actively seek God, he will reveal himself to us. We have to stay with God. That means that we have to hold on to the Lord and make sure that we are turned toward him. But then lastly, we have to stand firm. That means that the word for us is to keep going and to not give up, even though we may feel discouraged, because when we keep going, when we stand firm in our faith, our work will be rewarded. That’s how you stay strong, even in a troubling world.