May 13: Our mighty enemies are struck down

Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the LORD his God….. Once an Ethiopian named Zerah attacked Judah with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots….. Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! 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!" So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled.  (2 Chronicles 14:2,9,11,&12 — New Living Translation)

Asa was a king of Judah who had a strong faith in God. He was faithful to God himself, and he taught his people to seek God and obey His instructions. Asa destroyed the idols that were in the land and removed the altars where they were worshiped. God blessed him and Judah, and gave his kingdom peace for the first ten years of his reign. Under Asa the army was trained until there were 580,000 troops to defend the country.

But then a terrible danger came on the scene. The king of Ethiopia invaded the land with an army of a million men. Asa went out with his much smaller army but he prayed, "O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone." God responded to Asa's prayer and defeated the much larger army. Asa and his army won the battle because they trusted in God.

If you truly belong to the Lord Jesus, if your heart and life belong to Him, then He is obligated to protect you against your enemies. It doesn't matter how strong they are; God is stronger! Jesus, your Savior, has all power and all authority. The Holy Spirit, who is in you, raised Him from the dead, so He can help you in any and all circumstances. Don't rely on your own strength; do what Asa did. Call Almighty God, your Father, into action!

Not only did Asa get rid of pagan shrines and unbelief among his people, and prepare for the future by building up the army and cities of Judah — when trouble came in the form of a vast horde of one million soldiers, he refused to respond with fear and panic and depression, but cried out to God. He had God’s vision to see beyond the problem, to see the true reality of the situation. He reminded himself, “no one but You can help the powerless against the mighty!”  This is an example of how much we need God’s vision for our lives: knowing that we have a huge, unsolvable problem, but also having the unshakeable conviction that God has a plan for our lives, one that involves bringing glory to His name. — Be fearless when the vast horde appears!