Speak Life to Those Around You
Notes
Transcript
Hezekiah has come quite a long way since those first verses of 2 Chronicles 32. Instead of trusting God, he let his fear of the Assyrians influence him into making a pretty big mistake. But then he realized his enemy’s true motives and determined to make things right. Now he’s preparing for war, which is what he should’ve done in the first place.
In Hezekiah’s preparations we see another lesson:
Once you decide to do what’s right, the next step is to involve those around you.
As king of Judah, Hezekiah had a great responsibility to lead his people, he understood that if Jerusalem was going to withstand Assyria’s attack, it would take all of their working together. So he gave a powerful speech meant to encourage and inspire them. 2 Chronicles 32:6-8.
By now you’ve probably heard it so many times it seems cliche: out words have power. We can impact other people’s attitudes and actions just by the words we use. We can make someone’s day with a nice compliment or ruin someone else’s self of esteem with one careless or mean remark. James put it this way:
Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Speak Encouragement
Speak Encouragement
The Bible says that Hezekiah “spake comfortably” to the people in verse 6. He knew the people were as scared as he’d been himself not too long before, and they needed to be encouraged. The word encourage means to give confidence or hope- quite literally, it means to put courage in someone. These needed to courage put into them, and as their leader, Hezekiah was the one to do it.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
We all need others in our lives to help us be courageous at times. Even one of the most inspiring speeches in American history, Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr., needed encouragement. The original speech he intended to give at the march on Washington did not have the words “I have a dream” in it. But as Dr. King neared the conclusion of his speech, he found he was having trouble closing it in a way that felt “just right.” He needed something to give his audience that would inspire them in a way that nothing had before- but he didn’t know quite what to say. Then, from off to one side, his friend the famous gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted, “tell them about the dream, Martin!” From this encouragement history was made.
There is power in words of encouragement. Who in your life have you encouraged lately?
Speak Edification
Speak Edification
As Hezekiah spoke “comfortably” to the people, he reminded them of some important facts: they were not alone in war, the Lord was on their side, and He would fight for them Hezekiah’s words helped edify the people, or helped build them up and increase their confidence. We can use our words either as bricks to build others up or as bullets to tear them down. The choice is up to us, but we have a clear direction from the Bible:
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
See the Effect
See the Effect
At the end of verse 8 we see how Hezekiah’s encouragement impacted the people:
With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Do you remember the feeling when you were a kid of being soothed and comforted whenever your parents told you “Everything’s going to be okay?” You immediately felt better about whatever situation you were facing because you trusted your parents, and you knew you could believe them. This is the same idea we get from the words “rested themselves” in verse 8. The people found comfort and hope in the things Hezekiah told them because they knew they could believe him.
Hezekiah knew his people were going to need significant encouragement if they were ever going to move forward and win the battle, so he determined to speak like to them. I want to encourage you to do the same for others in your life.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison is remembered as the greatest inventor of all time. He invented the microphone, the phonograph , the incandescent light-bulb, talking movies, and more than one thousand other things. one invention that consumed a lot of his time was the storage battery. He worked on it for more than ten years and intended to us it in automobiles.
In December of 1914 the film room of his plant erupted into flames from a spontaneous combustion of chemicals, and within minutes, all Edison’s materials and supplies, including his storage battery prototype, had gone up in flames. Fire engines from eight surrounding towns arrived to help with the blaze, but the hear was so intense and water pressure so low that their help was futile. Everything was destroyed.
The 67 year old Edison watched calmly as his possessions burned, knowing there was nothing he could do. After the fire was doused, Edison thoroughly surveyed the damage and estimated his loss at over $900,000- a huge figure that would be roughly $23 million in today’s dollars. His plant’s insurance would only cover about 1/3 of the total damage. Still, as Edison surveyed the ruins, he said, “There is great value in disaster. All of our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.” Weeks later, Edison secured a loan from Henry Ford to get his plant up and running again, and he and his team went on to make almost $10 million in revenue the next year.
Remember ye not the former things, Neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing; Now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, And rivers in the desert.
No true dark horse story comes without failure. Sometimes we can just plain make a mess of things, but just remember God can take your mess and turn it into a message. Hezekiah took advantage of his second chance to respond to the enemy’s attack, and this time, he did it right. Today, I hope you’re thankful for a God who allows us a second chance to fix our mistakes and begin again.