Relying on God's Guidance

By Dean Collins

King Asa was one of the better kings. Unfortunately, being better is not the pathway for accessing God’s grace and help in time of need. 

Asa had a good run. Reading through 2 Chronicles 14-16, we have a high-level summary of King Asa’s accomplishments. His greatest accomplishments were achieved when he chose to rely on God instead of working his own plan. In chapter 14 verse two we read: 

“And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.”

If anyone ever writes an obituary or a summary of your life, wouldn’t that be the sentence that would bring you joy and peace? “She did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord.” It is a statement that indicates we are aware of who God is, who we are, and that our faith and obedience are all that is required. Micah said it slightly differently: “Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.” When we place our faith in Jesus and obey his commands, we can be sure that God is pleased.

Early on, King Asa jumped into action. He tore down the foreign alters, broke down the Asherim, or idols, to false gods. King Asa sought the Lord and kept the law. As the king continued his reforms, he fortified the cities of Judah, and the result was years of peace and prosperity. 

King Asa had an army of 580,000, and when he was threatened by an Ethiopian leader named Zehah, who came to battle with a million soldiers and better weapons, Asa cried out to God, declaring that God was the one true God. He asked for God to deliver Judah, and God did exactly that.

In chapter 15, we learn of other challenges that King Asa had to deal with that were also bigger than he was. King Asa listened to Azariah’s message: 

“But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.” 

Asa immediately went to work obeying the prophet’s words, and God extended his peace and protection of the king and citizens of Judah. Sadly, the story of Asa doesn’t end as well. We don’t know all the details, but I imagine they are similar to the details in our faith journey.

 For whatever reason, we sometimes grow lazy in our spiritual disciplines and fervor for the Lord. While it is good to keep up with all the new ideas out in the world, all too often we tend to drift to the new innovative systems and structures, and before we realize it, we start to think we can create, solve, and sustain ourselves without God’s help. That is exactly what happened to King Asa.

When chapter 16 opens, a new prophet named Hanani speaks to King Asa. Sadly, we learn that the king has already made a tragic mistake. When King Asa learned of a new threat, he chose to go make an alliance with the king of Syria instead of seeking God’s help to solve his problem and his threat. Hanani delivered this sad edict from God:

“Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.”

Hanani questioned Asa as to why he didn’t remember what God had done when he was outnumbered and God brought him victory. Instead of going to God in prayer, Asa thought he could handle this challenge on his own through treaties with other kings. The result was a defeated army and a tragic ending to Asa’s life. 

Hanani gave King Asa a powerful word that is relevant for you and me:

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and for throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

God is always looking for us to place all our faith and trust in him. He is not saying that we shouldn’t think and plan or work on solutions. What he is saying is that before we run off on our own making plans, we can and should call upon God for his help and wisdom. As we think and plan and work, we must stay in constant prayer so that we do not drift to self-reliance or to the answers the world might offer. We begin and end with declaring our reliance on God and God alone. Hanani indicated that it is the desire of God’s heart to fully support us when our hearts are blameless toward him.

Lord, today we confess that we often drift to our solutions over yours. Forgive us. Today we surrender ourselves to you and cry out for your intervention in every aspect of our lives. Thank you for your promise to fully support us in every aspect of our lives, especially in our seasons and times of great need. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
2 Chronicles 14:2-12, 2 Chronicles 15:1-12, 16-19, 2 Chronicles 16:7-10 ESV

Photo by Nick Tiemeyer on Unsplash
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