His Encouragement: Do not give up

His Encouragement: Do not give up

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This post is part of the series His Encouragement

Other posts in this series:

  1. His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for your Thursday
  2. His Encouragement: Psalm 147:3
  3. His Encouragement: Psalm 37:3

A cheery and warm welcome, dearest friends, to His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for Your Thursday. Every Thursday, a few blogging friends and I will each bring you a Bible verse and a little hope-filled discussion. We pray that these Thursday posts help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. We also welcome you to join the conversation by commenting with your thoughts. God bless!

Today’s Thursday Encouragement

“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” — 2 Chronicles 15:7, NIV

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by your circumstances that you just want to give up? Have you spent hours crying, thinking about, and praying over a situation and still feel as bewildered and uncertain as you were at the start? Does it seem like your problems are multiplying without any resolution?

Maybe you are even going through this right now. I wish I had some kind of great words of wisdom to share with you today that would make it all better, but the truth is: this is where I am at the moment, too. I am tired and just want to give up. Why bother trying anymore?

So I turned to the Word of God for encouragement, and I found 2 Chronicles 15:7. I do not usually read from the New International Version (my personal preferences are the King James, the English Standard Version, and the Complete Jewish Bible), but the NIV spoke to my hurting heart today: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

This is the final sentence of a prophecy by Azariah to King Asa of Judah, encouraging Asa to get rid of the false idols and idol worship that had taken hold in the kingdom under previous kings. The Bible continues: “When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.” (2 Chronicles 15:8, NIV) This was no easy feat, and Asa even had to remove his own grandmother, who was promoting the worship of false gods (2 Chronicles 15:16). Talk about family drama with the fate of an entire nation at stake!

If the Lord can guide King Asa in what seemed to be a impossible undertaking — bringing the kingdom of Judah back to the worship of God alone — then He can surely guide me through my daily troubles. And you, too! We just need to “be strong and do not give up”!

Now it is your turn! What verse or passage is blessing you today?

 

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