8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” 2 Chronicles 16: 7-9
I kinda liked Asa king of Judah. If you go back to the beginining of 2 Chronicles 15 you see that he started off really strong. Now hold on, we are going to jump around a little. Take a look at what was going on:
The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. 2 Chronicles 15:1-8
Asa had an assurance that the Lord was with him, . . . . as long as Asa was with the Lord. Asa had an assurnace that if he sought the Lord the Lord would be found. BUT if Asa forsake the Lord, he the Lord would forsake Asa. And with these words, Asa took courage. With the courage Asa cleaned house, reformed Judah bringing them back to the worship of God. The period of this reform is noted as follows:
17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. 2 Chronicles 15:17-18
Now hold on to that statement that Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life, and remember what that he brought the dedicated articles of silver and gold into the temple. Now fast forward . . . What do we see Asa doing in Chapter 16:
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 3 “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.” 2 Chronicles 16:1-3
Here we see Asa pressed against the wall. Nothing is going in or out. No commerce. No delicacies from other lands. No people. Nothing is passing in and out. So Asa takes things into his own hands . . . literally. He takes the silver and gold out of the temple and . . . .
WHOOOOAAAA!! What!!! Out of the Temple?!?!?! This was not Asa's to take. It belonged to the Lord.
Point 1: When you are up against the wall, things are looking grim and you think you need to save your you know what, if the first act that you are contemplating on doing is to take what is God's and use it . . . time dedicated to His service, . . . funds for His kingdom work . . . tithe, offerings (yeah I went there) . . . if you are contemplating taking His to save yours . . . then you are wrong.
Point 2: An alliance with the devil is just that, an alliance with the devil. No true good can come out of it and it only tears you down in the long run. It destroys your witness. It destroys your faith. The devil's vested interest is in seeing you destroyed . . . sooner or later. Remember whose child you are.
Now you can fast forward to todays' passage. You see right at first that Asa looses his enemy. And why, because Asa did not rely on the Lord.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 2 Chronicles 16:7
Point 3: God's agenda is not to make truce with the enemy but to give him into your hands. It is the Lord's desire for you to be victorious in your stand not to live with your hurt and pain just a little bit. God does not want the enemy to live to come back and hurt you another day. It is only with God that a complete victory is possible.
Point 4: When you are considering stepping out on your own to do your battles the way you think they should be take a moment and remember the victories the Lord has given you before.
8 Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 2 Chronicles 16:8
I don't know about you, but I am sure that when Asa heard the prophet say these words he probably thought: "Where were you when I was making these decisions?" Well, you and I have Asa's mistake to examine and help prevent us from doing the same.
And then we come to this wonderful verse:
9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
I would love to camp out here. It is an AWESOME promise. There is only one problem I see with it. Well, not with the verse, but with the application to Asa. Remember back in chapter 15?
". . . .Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life."
If God looks to support those whose heart is fully God's then, what happened to Asa here? Perhaps we need to add another verse to the mix:
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Hebrews 12:5-6
Oftentimes we think that when we mess up, make a foolish mistake God is just sitting there waiting to zap us. Not at all. We may experience His discipline, oftentimes through the natural consequences of our failure to follow Him. But does that mean that God does not see our hearts as still His. No. And as hard as we may view it, His discipline IS his support of us. His discipline is his strengthening us. Asa was not given the shaft, he was given a hand. He was strengthened.
God loves us so much He wants us not to make the mistake of Asa, the mistake of failing to follow Him. But if we do, well . . . He loves us enough to strengthen us through the consequences of our acts. We can either choose to be strengthened by encouragement through the victory given by following Him, His direction. Or we may choose to be strengthened by the discipline God administers through the painful consequences of our disobedience.
The choice is yours and mine. I know which I am choosing. Do you?
Got Word?
Love yah,
PS: Sorry missed last two days. Computer issues.
PS: Sorry missed last two days. Computer issues.
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