Trusting God in ALL Things

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him." Psalm 28:7

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." Psalm 37:3

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Proverbs 3: 5-10

In the book of 2 Chronicles chapters 14-16 we find King Asa, king of Judah, the third king following the separation of Judah from Israel. His father was King Abijah; his grandfather was King Rehoboam and his great-grandfather was King Solomon. King Asa was characterized in the Bible as a man of integrity. His 41 year reign was marked by revival in worship to the Lord and removal of paganism and it's associated evils.

The first ten years of Asa's reign were peaceful and prosperous (2 Chronicles 14: 1,2,6). This is because King Asa walked with God. Unfortunately, late in life his faith wavered, and at two points of crisis, he ignored God and turned to secular sources of help. Nevertheless, God's overwhelming verdict is that "Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God" (2 Chronicles 14:2).

As soon as King Asa took the throne, he instituted a series of religious reforms. He went from town to town throughout the land, removing pagan altars and shrines and prohibiting the sins associated with them, and he restored proper worship of the Lord as the national religion (vs 3-5). In recognition of this good work, the Lord gave Judah military peace on every front for the first ten years of Asa's reign (vs 6). Recognizing that peace would not last forever, Asa wisely used that time to build and supply border fortifications, and to train and equip an army of 580,000 men (vs 7,8).

In the early days of his reign, King Asa clearly had a heart for God.

After this time of peace with preparation for war, the army of Ethiopia invaded Judah. The number of soldiers recorded in the Bible is one thousand thousand (i.e. One Million) meaning that, Asa's forces were far inferior. In addition, Syria boasted a mechanized army of 300 chariots, for which Asa's foot soldiers were no match. In a beautiful prayer, Asa expressed his helplessness and his faith in God to defend them. When the battle began, the Ethiopian army was massacred. As they retreated, Judah's army pushed them to the Philistine border, inflicting such heavy casualties that Ethiopia could not recover. On the return trip, they gathered a great amount of plunder from the fallen soldiers. The Lord had indeed defended them. (2 Chronicles 14: 9-15)

First Peter 5:7 says, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." This worked for King Asa and it will work for us today. We have to trust God every day, every hour, and every minute.

Asa had a second revival: As the victorious army returned from this against-the-odds rout, a prophet named Azariah took the opportunity to remind Asa that this success had come from the Lord. He reminded him of the military vulnerability and crime that had prevailed in the pagan days of Kings Rehoboam and Abijah, compared to the peace and safety experienced now. He urged them to renew their commitment to the Lord.

Hearing this, King Asa redoubled his efforts, and the former revival took on new life. He again toured the nation, destroying idols, abolishing the immoral practices associated with their worship, and reinstituting worship of the Lord. This effort lasted five years, at which time the king called for a meeting of the entire population at Jerusalem. Here he added yet more force to his efforts, drawing the people into a renewed covenant with the Lord, even to the point of threatening with capital punishment any who maintained their pagan habits - in accordance with the law of Moses. As a result of their dedication, God gave them peace on all borders for yet another 20 years. "Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days" (2 Chronicles 15:17). The word "perfect" means King Asa had a heart for God. The Scofield Study Bile says, "The word implies whole-heartedness for God, single-mindedness, sincerity - not sinless perfection" (p. 399).

But somewhere along the way, Asa's focus began to change. What changed his focus? I wonder what Asa allowed in his heart that changed his focus?

2 Chronicles 16 gives the account of Asa's decline. Late in King Asa's reign, King Baasha of neighboring Israel began to prepare for war with Judah. He closed the borders and fortified border cities (vs 1). Naturally, Asa saw this as a threat to be taken seriously. When Baasha's preparations were well along, Asa entered negotiations with Benhadad, king of Syria, now at peace with Israel, but historically an enemy. Asa reminded Benhadad of a treaty between the two king's fathers, and paid him a large sum to break his peace with Israel, looting Solomon's temple and his own palace for the bribe. Benhadad agreed, and sent armies to attack various towns in Israel. Baasha, finding his kingdom under attack, abandoned his preparations against Judah and left to defend his kingdom. Asa took the opportunity to dismantle the abandoned work and confiscate the building materials, implementing a nationwide draft to provide the work force.

And so Judah was safe; Baasha never rejoined the project. However, (vs 7-10) the Lord sent the prophet Hanani to tell Asa that he had been negligent. God had intended to bring disaster on Benhadad, who was always hostile to Israel and Judah. But Asa had failed to consult God in this crisis, and so Benhadad had escaped. Hanani reminded Asa that years ago he had faced a great crisis, called on God, and God had rescued him. But this time he had ignored God, and because of this, the remainder of his reign would be marked by war. But rather than repenting, King Asa was furious and had Hanani arrested. A few years later, King Asa contracted a serious disease in his feet. Once again, he refused to turn to the Lord, seeking only the help of his powerless doctors (vs 11, 12).

Faithful King Asa faced two military crises in his life - invasion of Ethiopia and threatened invasion by Israel. Each time, God also had an agenda of crippling a marauding force - first of Ethiopia, then of Syria. In the first crisis, Asa trusted the Lord, and both Asa's crisis and the Lord's agenda were served - Judah was protected, and marauding Ethiopia was crushed. In the second crisis, Asa acted without consulting the Lord. As a result, his crisis was solved, but the Lord's intention to cripple marauding Syria was not fulfilled, and Syria was a problem to Israel and Judah for decades to come.

When we face a crisis, God has a wonderful agenda that we usually can't see. Whether His agenda is fulfilled or not, depends on whether we trust Him or solve our problem without consulting Him.

Trust God in ALL things today!

Purpose through difficulty

"And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." (Matthew 14:14)

In the first few verses of Matthew chapter 14 we find that Jesus learns of the beheading of John the Baptist. John was, not only the forerunner of Jesus, he was also a family member. He was the cousin born just six months prior to Jesus. I wonder how many times they played together as little children running around the fields in the dust and playing with the sheep and other little kids around them. I wonder how many times as teenagers they worked by the sweat of their brows doing work for their families. I wonder if Jesus had ever out whittled John?

Needless to say, I believe Jesus and John had a special relationship and when Jesus heard of the passing of John the Bible says; "He departed to a deserted place by Himself" (vs 13). Jesus had to spend some time in mourning for his friend, his cousin, his fellow minister. Jesus had suffered a loss in his family and no doubt was hurting inside. But, I want to bring to our attention the focus Jesus had on His purpose. In the moments of sorrow, Jesus saw a multitude of people that were hungry. The disciples told Jesus to let them go home, the hour was late, and the place they were at was deserted. There wasn't enough food to go around.

Jesus shows us in His circumstance of personal difficulty how to continue with purpose. Jesus saw their need, had compassion, and ministered to them. With only two fish and five loaves of bread, 5000 men, plus many women and children ate till they were full and left baskets of food behind. This is an example, to me, that no matter my circumstance I need to be about the Father's business. When difficulty of life comes my way, I need to continue to live with purpose. Struggles and difficulties are part of life and we must remember to take time for them, but also allow God to continue to work in us and through us for His purpose. Let's live with purpose no matter the circumstance we face and be pleasing to the Father.