A prophet spoke these words to King Asa of Judah after he had gathered all the gold and silver from the temple of God and from his own palace to buy the allegiance of the King of Damascus. Israel and Damascus were attacking Judah, and so Asa bribed Damascus to switch sides and fight against Israel together with him… they won the war, but it was not an overwhelming victory. Asa had put his trust in gold, silver, and foreign armies instead of God.
Decades earlier an Egyptian army of one million men had declared war against Asa, and though this army was close to double his own strength, Judah annihilated them because Asa had cried out to God for help. Many years before that his father had done the same thing and experienced an amazing victory when he was outnumbered by the army of Jeroboam.
Because of this, God was not please with Asa’s dependence on Damascus and sent a seer (prophet) to rebuke him, and since he did not want to hear what the seer said, he threw him in jail! Asa was so wise and faithful in his youth, and so misguided in the later part of his life. He even died of a disease that could have easily been healed by God, simply because he did not ask Him for healing.
This passage is one of the greatest in the Bible. It explains that God is continually searching throughout the world, back and forth, up and down, for someone, anyone whose heart is completely His. And when He finds these people, He supports them in a strong way. Amazing. How can people complain about life? How can people say God doesn’t do miracles today? He does, but He needs people whose hearts are completely His.
Time can be ruthless… so can our memory. Asa knew better than to do what he did, but time made him forget, or get lazy, or tired. His heart knew what had happened with the Egyptians and with his father, but it preferred to do things its own way.
Let’s resist the temptation to solve problems all by ourselves. Let’s make sure our hearts are completely His and cry out for His help in times of trouble.
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