‘“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.”
~ 2 Chronicles 32:7
Hi James and Ellen,
What kind of ending do you hope that your life stories will have? Your grandpaa is quite sure that you would hope that your life stories will have good endings. What would good endings be to you? Would having accumulated a lot of money and a lot of possessions be a good ending to you for your life stories? Would having performed a lot of good deeds be a good ending to you for your life stories? Would knowing that God has used your lives for His kingdom’s sake be a good ending to you for your life stories? Your grandmaa and grandpaa are very thankful for the sovereign experiences that God has unfolded in their life stories. Your grandmaa and grandpaa had very little money and very few things when your grandpaa was asked by Beneficial Finance to transfer to Aberdeen, South Dakota to manage the Beneficial Finance office that is located in Aberdeen. Your Aunt Lynn had not been born yet when your grandmaa and grandpaa moved to Aberdeen. It was not long after your grandmaa and grandpaa had gotten settled in a house – which your grandmaa and grandpaa called their little Dutch house, when your Aunt Lynn was born. Your grandmaa found the house where your grandmaa and grandpaa would end up living in in Aberdeen. Your grandmaa and grandpaa needed to get a loan from a bank to buy the house. Even though the house cost only around $15,000, your grandmaa and grandpaa could not make the down payment that they needed to make for the bank to finance the loan for the house. Because your grandmaa and grandpaa could not make the down payment on the house, the bank decided not to finance the loan for the house. Because a bank had refused to loan your grandmaa and grandpaa the money to buy a house, your grandmaa and grandpaa thought that they would not be able to buy a house in Aberdeen. Your grandmaa and grandpaa began to look for a place which they could rent. The Beneficial Finance office which your grandpaa was transferred to Aberdeen to manage is located in a mall. The bank where your grandmaa and grandpaa had gone to for the financing of the house which they were really hoping to buy was located across the street from the mall where your grandpaa was the Beneficial Finance office manager. About a week after the guy at the bank told your grandmaa and grandpaa that the bank would not help them buy the house that they wanted to buy, your grandpaa saw the guy walking in the mall. Your grandpaa had left his office to buy a cup of coffee when your grandpaa saw the guy eating an ice cream cone as he was meandering in the mall. When the guy from bank saw your grandpaa, the guy stopped, greeted your grandpaa and then asked your grandpaa if your grandmaa and grandpaa still wanted to buy the house. Your grandpaa told him that they sure did. The guy told your grandpaa to stop by the bank the next day and that he would help your grandmaa and grandpaa buy the house. Your grandpaa was thirty years old when your grandmaa and grandpaa moved into the house that they bought in Aberdeen. This is how your dad ended up living two years in a tall, skinny house which seemed to lean.
Do you think that anything ever happens by accident? Was your grandpaa meeting the guy from the bank as the guy was walking through the mall an accident? Your grandpaa wants to believe that God divinely intervenes in lives all the time. God is constantly teaching you to trust Him in every decision that you have to make. God in His way is reinforcing the faith that you have in Him. When your grandmaa and grandpaa moved to Aberdeen, they were not putting much trust in God to help them. Your grandmaa and grandpaa knew that they were God’s chosen, elected, adopted children. Your grandmaa and grandpaa though were also trying to live their lives their own way. The chronicler – in 2 Chronicles 32, tell you some of Hezekiah’s life story. Your grandpaa recently wrote about Hezekiah’s pride in the money and in the things that he had. Hezekiah had shown off all his amassed wealth that he had to the envoys who had arrived from Babylon. Why do you think that Hezekiah did this? The chronicler tells us that Hezekiah was being tested by God. God wanted Hezekiah to see the pride that was still in his heart. Hezekiah had been a very good, faithful king. Hezekiah had looked to God for help when the Assyrians – led by Sennacherib, wanted the land where Hezekiah lived. God used an angel to destroy the Assyrian army in order to save Hezekiah and the guys, gals and kids who lived in Judah. Judah was an Israelite tribal clan. The Israelites were God’s specially chosen people. Hezekiah destroyed the false gods and idols which were being worshipped in the land area of Judah. Hezekiah – for almost all his life, would look to God for help. When Hezekiah became very sick and was about to die, Hezekiah looked to God for help. God promised Hezekiah that He would allow him to live a longer life. After God told Hezekiah that He would allow him to live longer, Hezekiah’s attitude seemed to change. Hezekiah seems to begin to take God for granted – thinking that God would always be there to help him no matter what he did. He begins to think about himself and about the things that he has while forgetting God and about everything that God had done for him. Verse 7 tells you how much Hezekiah once trusted in God when he tells some military officers who he had appointed over the people ‘“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.” That greater power that Hezekiah knew that he had was God. The king of Assyria trusted in false gods to help him when he fought.
Hezekiah’s life story’s ending became a good one when Hezekiah realized the pride that he had in his heart. Hezekiah’s life story teaches you that failing one life test does not mean that your life story will have a bad ending.
2 Chronicles 32 (53)