Outlasting Discouragement

2Ch 32:9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

2Ch 32:10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

2Ch 32:11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

2Ch 32:12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

2Ch 32:13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

2Ch 32:14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?

2Ch 32:15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

2Ch 32:16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.

2Ch 32:17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.

2Ch 32:18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

2Ch 32:19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

2Ch 32:20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.

2Ch 32:21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.

2Ch 32:22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.

2Ch 32:23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

Outlasting discouragement will never happen to you on accident.

Doubts will move in and move out. There will always be the voices in your life and in your world that will challenge you as to whether or not it is really worth it to continue on with God. Some of you will be tempted to quit, quit on your families, quit on your ministry, quit on your church, quit on what you once knew for certain was God’s crystal clear plan for your life.

Much of our lives are supernatural. Not all of it can be measured and boxed in and illustrated and diagramed, because there is an enemy that you can’t see to ... who seeks to keep you from trusting a God that you can’t see. So all that we do, if it is ever going to amount to anything is done by faith and that is where he has put his bull’s eye. He has put

his bull’s eye on your faith. He wants you to doubt. He wants you to fear and he wants you to tremble about your future.

Let’s talk about that doubt that leads to your discouragement. Let’s analyze and utilize this narrative from 2 Chronicles 32 and let’s make application to our lives today. Let me talk to you about the agenda of your enemy.

In verse number nine here is the agenda. It is seen in Sennacherib that

King of Assyria, the godless man who is coming to destroy the people of God. It says: “...who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem.”