Stop the Water

Read: 2 Chronicles 32:

Have you ever wished you could have a do-over? Think about the last mistake you made- the big test you failed because you didn’t study or the good friendship you messed up because you were selfish or mean. how great would it have been to just hit a rewind button and get a second chance to fix those mistakes?

Most of the time we don’t get a do-over in life. But occasionally we get a second chance to do the right thing.

But I’m so glad we serve a God of second chances. He know we make mistakes, and because of His grace, He gives us new beginnings and new opportunities.

Lamentations 3:22–23 KJV 1900

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV 1900

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

In the first lesson we saw how Hezekiah had a great start to his reign in Judah, restoring the temple, destroying the idols and high places, and defeating the Philistine army that was trying to control the land. But Hezekiah also knew what it meant to make mistakes that needed a do-over.

In 2 Chronicles 32 we are introduced to a new king of Assyria, a man named Sennacherib who comes on the scene after Hezekiah had been king for about fourteen years. Remember how in the first lesson Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria and refused to pay the tribute his father Ahaz had agreed to pay Assyria for protection? Well, Sennacherib didn’t like the new arrangement, so he retaliated with a sneak a attack that destroyed the “fenced cities” surrounding cities of Judah, and Hezekiah was blindsided. He wan’t read. Hezekiah’s mistake wasn’t in no being able to predict that Assyria would attack; his mistake was in how he handled it. Instead of trusting God, he trusted in himself and responded in the wrong way.

Life has a way of throwing us all a curve every once in a while. Everything will be going great, and then all of a sudden, your dad will lose his job or a loved one will have an accident or a serious of health problem. You can’t always control what happens to you but you can control your response to what happens to you. And one of the first steps in responding the right way is recognizing that challenges and difficulties will come your way and knowing where you need to turn and in whom you need to trust.

That’s why the Bible tells us to get ready for spiritual warfare. We need to know that battles and difficulties are coming so we can prepare our response ahead of time.

2 Timothy 2:1–4 KJV 1900

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

But here’s where God’s new mercies come into the picture. Although Hezekiah’s initial response was not one to be proud of, the Lord allowed him to begin again and get back on track. And there are four lessons we can learn from his example that will help us have our response ready the next time we get blindsided by a challenge and need a do-over.

Lesson #1 Don’t Allow Fear to Eliminate Your Fight

To understand what is going on in 2 Chronicles 32, we can turn back to 2 Kings 18, which happens at the same time. Verse 13 of that chapter tells us this:

2 Kings 18:13 KJV 1900

Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

In case you’re wondering where this Sennacherib guy came from, you should probably know that he was no stranger to fighting against God’s people. His dad Shalmaneser, the previous king, had waged was against the nation of Israel earlier in Hezekiah’s reign and taken the Israelites captive in verse 11. Now his son was making trouble of Judah, all because Hezekiah had refused to pay tribute to Assyria.

Assyria was a powerful and dangerous enemy, and when Sennacherib destroyed the fenced cities of Judah, Hezekiah got nervous- and probably more than a little scared. But instead of responding in faith, he responded in fear.

Satan tries to use the power of ear to paralyze our progress for God. He doesn’t want you to succeed in life, so he employs one of his greatest tactics to hold you back or to force you to respond in the wrong way. Look what problems fear caused for Hezekiah.

Fear Caused Confusion

2 kings 18:14

2 Kings 18:14 KJV 1900

And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

Did you see that? That was Hezekiah telling Sennacherib, “I have sinned against you.” All he’d done was refuse to be subject to a wicked nation that was the enemy of God. He hadn’t sinned, but fear made him second-guess his decision to rebel against Assyria in the first place. His fear made him think, “maybe that wasn’t such an good idea, maybe I should just pay like my father did.” His fear made him apologize for the very thing he’d done right.

When you’re living in fear you can get confused just like Hezekiah. It clouds your vision. Fear is the reason you question your decision to invite a neighbor to church and suddenly start thinking about how awkward things will be between you or imagining he or she thinks you are weird now, Fear is the reason you begin to wonder if you made a mistake about getting involved in church ministries or activities, and you tell yourself you really don’t have much time so it was probably a bad idea.

You see how the devil has a way of getting us to doubt our right decisions? When what we experience is different from what we expected, we can sometimes doubt what God had called us to do. But we have to remember that God is a God of second chances, not second guesses. If He puts something on your heart to do, you must do it. Don’t let fear hold you back. Instead, let faith lead the way, knowing that God is not the author of confusion, and He will never set you up to fail.

Isaiah 41:10 KJV 1900

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Romans 8:37 KJV 1900

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Fear Caused Compromise

Webster defines compromise as a way of reaching agreement in which each person or group gives up something that was wanted in order to end an argument or dispute. Essentially, to compromise is to give in or make a deal. and that’s what Hezekiah did with the king of Assyria: He gave in and made a deal. He compromised his convictions.

look at 18:14-18

Hezekiah promised to pay whatever price Assyria wanted, and that price ended up being high; in our day, it would’ve been about 1.4 million. That’s a lot of money. But what’s worse than the decision to pay the enemy is where Hezekiah got the money; he stole it from the temple of God.

There’s no way that Hezekiah could have known when all this trouble began that he would end up robbing the temple to meet Assyria’s demands. But that ‘s how sin works. It takes you further than you ever wanted to go, and you end up doing things you never thought you would do. Satan will do anything in his power to get you to compromise your spiritual convictions, and that’s why you have to determine, before the challenges ever come, that there are certain things you won’t budge on, ever.

Have you ever seen house hunters? It’s basically a show for anyone who likes to watch other people buy new houses. It’s pretty fun. One of the common questions you’ll hear a real a estate agent ask someone on the show looking for a new home is “what are your non-negotiables?” “what have you pre-determined that you will not accept, no matter what?

I thin that’s a good question when it comes to compromise in our lives that might sidetrack our progress or testimony for God. What are your spiritual non-negotiables? what actions- like tithing, church attendance, or getting in God’s Word daily- have you pre-determined to do faithfully, no matter what?

One thing you have to remember if you’re going to refuse to allow fear to compromise your convictions and eliminate your fight is that we can always rely on the strength of the Lord.

Psalm 34:4 KJV 1900

I sought the Lord, and he heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

If we are going to change the world, we’ve got to be confident in Christ, not cowering in concern.