It can be surprising just who I can relate to in the Bible. Sometimes you’re reading along through all these stories and chronicles and all of a sudden something hits you. It’s not like you haven’t read the story before, but you just had never seen that side of it. The Bible is so multifaceted that you can read it over and over and over and still find something new.
I’ve been reading Chronicles. It felt odd to be reading it now because I’d just finished the rest of the Old Testament and I’d completely forgotten that I hadn’t read Chronicles 1&2. I don’t know why my reading plan I’m using decided to save these two books for after the rest, but I do know that it wasn’t an accident, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been reading the story that I was today, and on another day who knows if I would have seen it the same way.
In 2 Chronicles 14-16 you read the story of King Asa. He’s a king of Judah after it split off from the rest of the tribes in Israel and he’s one of the good ones. Under his leadership Judah does well and they enjoy a measure of peace.
It would be pretty easy to skim through and keep going on to the next kings story, not much remarkable happens.
Early on in his reign he enjoys a huge victory over an invader, God fights for them and routs the enemy under overwhelming odds. They enjoy peace, he leads his people in dedication to God, he’s a good king!
Near the end of his reign he’s attacked again, forms an alliance with a neighboring country and through that alliance again finds peace and success. But a prophet comes and rebukes Asa. You see after years of peace Asa has seemingly forgotten where that peace comes from, he never consulted God about the alliance, and the prophet basically said that God would have given him even greater victory if he had trusted in God instead of man.
After this Asa apparently became angry, resentful, and eventually died of an illness, to proud to ask God for help and only trusting in his own physicians.
What struck me about Asa’s story is how much I could relate to his thought process.
When faced with overwhelming odds at the beginning of his reign he found it easy to trust in the Lord and the Lord granted him victory. But after years of comfort he became complacent and began to trust in his own wisdom and strength, so that the next time he was faced with a challenge he didn’t think to consult God, and instead went with a human solution.
I think we all fight this exact tendency in ourselves, or at least I know I do. And it may seem like not really any big deal. After all, Asa did gain victory, mans wisdom DID work. In fact I will go so far as to say that he didn’t exactly do anything really WRONG. He wasn’t outright rebelling against God, he wasn’t building idols or leading his people astray.
So why did the prophet rebuke him?
Here is the crux of the issue, at least as I see it. Because Asa insisted on his own plan, he missed the amazing plan God had for his life.
As I said before, not much remarkable happens in Asa’s story, but that wasn’t what God had in mind for him. Asa missed the boat, and that is kind of sad, and in his life we can draw a lesson for ourselves.
It is so easy for us to be like Asa in our lives. We make our plans, we handle our crisis, and we forget to even consult God. And because we choose to trust in our own intellect we miss all He has for us. God wants us to have amazing victory and freedom in our lives, and we settle for something less. So how do we keep ourselves from this fate? Honestly I don’t have all the answers, but if we look at the early days of Asa’s reign maybe we can find a few clues.
Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the LORD his God. He commanded the people of Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands. 2 Chronicles 14:2,4
Early in Asa’s reign he was focused on God. He actively was seeking Him. So when he was attacked by an army much larger then his own it was familiar and instinctual to cry out to God.
Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, “O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the might! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!” 2 Chronicles 14:11-12
But at some point, Asa stopped crying out to God. He became complacent. We can’t tell exactly when it happened, just that it did, and honestly we can understand it.
When life is comfortable we tend to forget just how crucial it is to keep our relationship with God solid. Because we can handle what life is throwing at us we stop asking for His help. Eventually we start to trust in ourselves that we have it covered. Eventually we start to trust in ourselves more then we trust in Him. It’s an easy trap to fall into. We become, in a sense, trapped in our own minds, our own reasonings, and our own will. It doesn’t even have to be a “sinful” trap to be a trap. You could be doing everything “right” by the worlds standards but that isn’t the point. The point is that our own will and plan for our lives is NEVER as amazing and incredible and freeing as God’s plan is.
I’ve seen so often how people seem to be afraid to let God have control over there life simply because they don’t want to let go of control. They have this misguided idea that staying “true to themselves” will make them happy.
Let me tell you something: God knows your true self better then you do. He made you!
We have to get over this idea that we are smarter then God! That we know ourselves better and know better what would make us happy! We don’t! By keeping control of our lives the only thing we are doing is selling our lives short. We will NEVER be as fulfilled and as victorious and as free in our lives as we were meant to be as long as we are in control!
As long as we are trapped by our own minds and will, we will never live the life we were meant to. Our story will be like that of King Asa, unremarkable. But if we let go, if we chase after God and seek Him first, oh the amazing things He has for us!
~Joy Aletheia Stevens
Photo Credit: by epSos .de (CC BY 2.0)
Photo Credit: by Jasen Miller (CC BY 2.0)
Mindy says
I agree with you Joy. Love what you have to say. I have found that through my struggles…I grow. I always know…God is teaching me some sort of lesson. I believe sometimes it is to see how strong I really am. This sense of security helps my anxiety and builds my self asteem. It builds confidence…as I know God loves me. He has a plan greater than I know… I desperately have to believe that. I am lost with out him.