Ashley Munroe wrote the message " You´re beautiful" on nearly 2000 notes and then placed one on each locker in her secondary school. Via surveillance cameras, school authorities say Ashley distributing the notes. The principal assumed she was causing trouble and suspended her. Several hundred students, however, signed a petition to help Ashley avoid punishment. Perhaps her best reward was hearing from a girl who had planned to commit suicide that day but did not because of Ashley´s message.
Hezekiah used words to encourage Israelites under his command as they faced an attack by the Assyrians. He began by saying, "Be strong and courageous" Don´t be afraid or discouraged" (2 Chronicles 32:7). Keep in mind that the Assyrian army, led by King Sennacherib, had pulverised their opponents in the past and expected to do so again (v. 17).
The attackers may have had more experience, larger numbers and superior strength, but they did not have divine support. Hezekiah told the Israelites : "There is a power far greater on our side! ..... [the Assyrians] are merely men" (vv. 7-8). In reality the battle was not between two physical armies, but between the flesh and blood of the Assyrians and the invisible influence of God Almighty.
King Hezekiah helped his people to see that they could meet the most vicious enemy with bravery because God was in their corner. The same is true for us as God´s people today. We may not struggle with ruthless warriors, but we may battle illness, discrimination or spiteful people. God is on our side, and He speaks straight to our hearts with messages of encouragement : I made you. I´ll carry your burden. I delight in you. - Jennifer Benson Schuldt.
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2 Chronicles 32:2-22
When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. A large force of men assembled, and they blocked all springs and the stream that flowed through the land. "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?" they said. Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.
He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words : "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there :
"This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says : On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, 'The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,' he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god´s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it'?
Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my fathers destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!"
Sennacherib´s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. The king also wrote letters insulting the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him : "Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand." Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world - the work of men´s hands.
King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.
So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all the others. He took care of them on every side.
Romans 15:4-5
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.
Question to Ponder
What words might you use to support someone who is overly critical of himself or herself?
How has God encouraged you during a difficult time?
Through people, His Word, His Holy Spirit?
**Article taken from ODJ (Our Daily Journey with God) Sept - Nov 2014 issue
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