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Jun 02, 2024 06:00am

Peer Pressure

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Peer pressure has a way of infiltrating hearts at any age. It is not just the young among us who fall into line with gossipers or bullies. Even grown adults can find themselves going along with activities or conversations they oppose, either because they do not want to feel different or even because they don’t realize they are being pulled in until it is too late.

This reminds me of a time when my husband and I were dating. My mom took us to the beach. We went out into the salty water, jumping waves and giggling every time we got pushed around. We were so enamored in one another and the fun we were having that we were unaware of anything else going on around us. Maybe 20 minutes later, we looked up to the sand to wave at Mom and let her know we were still okay. We realized we had gotten pushed by the waves so far down the shore that we didn’t even see her. We fought the waves to get to the shore and backtrack to find my mom’s umbrella.

When we got closer to our point of origin, we saw Mom standing up, hands on her hips, with a look of concern that released once she saw us.

“I was so worried!” Mom told us. She said she had been yelling our names and waving her hands at us, but we had no idea. Apparently, there was a person drowning near us. While Jeremy and I laughed and jumped in the chaotic current, being swept down the shore, a life guard flew into the water no further than 10 feet away from us. He rescued the person, and everyone on shore cheered. The two of us did not have a clue at all about the traumatic scene that played on while we enjoyed teenage love blindness and we were carried further and further down the shore.

While we did not experience peer pressure in this instance, we were moved away from where we were supposed to be, and we were clueless to the life and death scene playing out in our midst, distracted by the focus of our hearts.

As I have spent time reading in the Old Testament, I have observed the cycle of kings who were obedient to God, leading the people closer to Him, almost always followed by kings who did not regard God or His laws. This cycle spins in circles throughout several books – each one focusing more on different aspects of those times – perspectives of the leaders, perspectives of the priests, etc.

Well, one king stood out to me in 2 Chronicles. Hezekiah entered his rule at 25 years old, after a chaotic end to King Ahaz’s rule and an invasion by King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria, during which King Ahaz rejected the Lord, took various items from the Temple of God and broke them into pieces, made pagan shrines all over the town, and the Lord’s Temple doors were locked.

So, Hezekiah came on scene to a chaotic, sad time. He jumped right in though and turned things back to God. He reopened the doors of the Temple of the Lord, made repairs, enlisted the priests and Levites to purify themselves and the Temple and to remove any pagan items and defiled things. He sent runners throughout Israel and Judah to declare a message to God’s people, pleading for them to submit to God, return to Him, and worship Him. He gave a direct message of rebuke, pleading, encouragement, and reminders of God’s faithfulness. The runners went town to town, sharing Hezekiah’s message (I like to think of it as a sort of pep talk). There were some who mocked his message, but many did humble themselves and return their hearts to God, and they were blessed.

A little later, King Sennacherib of Assyria sent his own messenger to Hezekiah and his people mocking their trust in God and warning them that he would overcome them, just like all of the kings of Assyria had before. He warned them not to believe in the power of God, because none of the other gods had protected any of the previous people from the Assyrians. King Sennacherib’s messengers mocked and insulted God and King Hezekiah, trying to terrify them and pull them away from faith in God’s power.

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cried out in prayer. God sent an angel who completely destroyed the Assyrian army with ALL of its commanders and officers. Sennacherib went home in disgrace, where he was killed by his own sons.

Hezekiah’s faithfulness applied positive peer pressure on his people, encouraged them to give their hearts back to God, encouraged them to resist the taunting of the Assyrian messengers, and ultimately saved them from destruction and a life without the hope of God.

When we are intentional to hold tightly to God’s Word, His truth will be the current that moves us along, regardless of what is going on around us. If we allow the pressures of the world to fill our hearts, we might get swept away into danger without even realizing it.