I felt like I was to share today’s journal entry with all of you. So … here it is …
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2 Chronicles 16:1
In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of
Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent
anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in
Judah.
2 Chronicles 16:3-4
“Let there be a treaty between you and me like the one
between your father and my father. See, I am sending you silver
and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that
he will leave me alone.” Ben-hadad agreed to King
Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to
attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon,
Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the store cities in Naphtali.
2 Chronicles 16:7-9
At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him,
“Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram
instead of in the LORD your God, you missed your chance to
destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don’t you remember
what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army,
with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you
relied on the LORD, and he handed them over to you. The eyes of
the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those
whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have
been! From now on you will be at war.”
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For a long period of time, King Asa had been following God and been a man after God’s heart. He was faithful to God. Because of that, God allowed him to have peace throughout his kingdom for a long number of years. It sounds like King Asa got used to this peace. To the point that he forgot what to do when trouble happened. When trouble came, rather than seeking God, he panicked and sought the help of another army. He sought the help of man rather than God. Since he had been living in peace for so long, I think he forgot the power of God and forgot that God can deliver him from any army as long as he continued to seek God.
This other army came in and helped him get rid of the invaders. But it came with a price. Since He didn’t seek God for help in his time of need, God decided that from now on Asa was to be at war. God wants us to turn to Him first and allow Him to strengthen us. But, as the verse says, we must be fully committed to Him.
It is easy to become complacent in life. We go through a rough time that brings us to our knees in prayer. We fight through it with the help of God and we “get on the bandwagon” so to speak. We begin to read his word and pray to help us through this rough time in our life. As we get through it, things start to calm down. We go from code red to yellow and that urgency to seek God’s help fades away. We begin to read the Bible less and we pray less. After a while, things are going so well that we stop reading and just rely on getting our Bible time at church on Sunday. We go from being a mighty warrior in God’s kingdom to a soft “Sunday Follower” of God.
What happens when trouble hits this time around? We have lost our solid foundation. This sounds like what happened to King Asa. Even if we do turn back to God and seek Him for help through this trouble, do we go through the cycle all over again? This isn’t how God has called us to live. He isn’t there to just be our God in a time of crisis. He wants to be there for us through the good times as well. He wants us to continually seek after Him and to have a relationship with us through the good and the bad.
Psalms 105:3-5
Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the LORD.
Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the
rulings he has given.
Lord, thank you for this word today. Thank you for your continued love and support. I pray that I would not get complacent in my walk with you. That I would not let times of peace make me soft. I pray that I would not become a “Sunday Follower” but an “Everyday Follower” of you.