Yesterday I was reading in my devotions about King Asa.
It seems that King Baasha of Israel was trying to gain control; so he started to build the city of Ramah to put King Asa under siege. Of course, this worried King Asa , and he immediately started thinking about who could come to his rescue. Well, he remembered one of his alliances and asked for King Benhadad, the Syrian king’s, help. King Benhadad came to King Asa’s aid (after receiving great treasures of silver and gold from the Lord’s House as payment), King Baasha left and stopped building the city of Ramah, and everything seemed like it worked out fine for King Asa. That is, until God sent a messenger to tell King Asa that he, the grand king of Judah, had made a really big mistake—- never once had he asked for God’s help.
“Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.
8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.” (2 Chronicles 16:7-9)
God is telling King Asa that He would have been more than happy to help out. He is constantly looking for those who are willing for Him to step in and take control. He even recalls the past times when He helped out King Asa because of the king’s reliance upon Him.
The really sad thing though is that King Asa did not learn his lesson. The Bible continues his story until the end of his life, and this is how it ends.
“12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.
13 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.“ (2 Chronicles 16:12-13)
So I had to stop and think- how often do I really rely upon God? When a problem arises, I run to my parents or my mentors for advice. When I’m lonely, I seek my friends. When I’m confused, I turn up the music or pour myself into a book. When life is going well, I rely upon myself to make decisions and keep everything going smoothly.
For the past month I felt like the hard things of life were drowning me. I tried on my own strength to overcome, but it didn’t work. It was not until I finally gave up and let God that things started to make sense and the fog started to clear. But why does it take me so long to give up? Why don’t I go to God first of all?
Is it because of pride? Is it because I simply take God’s strength for granted?
God wants to help me out. He watches as I stumble and slip through the mud. He watches as I fall and scrape my knees on the sharp rocks. He is walking beside me, reaching out His Hand. All I have to do is REACH UP. All I have to do is take His hand, and say, I can’t do it on my own. Then He will lift me into His arms, dry my tears, bandage my wounds, and carry me through the rugged, hard land.
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.“
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