July 25, 2010

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!”

-2 Chronicles 14:11

How sad it is to see a person move from having a tender heart and complete trust in God to having a cold, hard heart and an analytical mind that calculates every move.

Unfortunately, that is just what happened to Asa. He began his reign with a mighty victory, totally relying upon the Lord to defeat the Ethiopians. At the end of his reign, however, when he had grown old and was no longer childlike in his faith, he hired mercenary soldiers to fight his battles. The prophet rebuked him for his unbelief, reminding him that “the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Asa’s unbelieving attitude was also evident in his latter years when he “developed a serious foot disease. Even when the disease became life threatening, he did not seek the Lord’s help but sought help only from his physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign” (2 Chronicles 16:12-13). How far Asa had strayed from the time when the whole nation sought the Lord and God gave him “rest from his enemies” (2 Chronicles 14:6)! He now focused his hope on the efforts of man rather than the power of God. Asa was not wrong to seek the help of physicians, but he did err in placing his trust in them rather than in the Lord.

Let us purpose to stay simple, trusting, and childlike in total dependence upon God for all our days.

Daily Readings: 2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14 • Romans 9:1-24
• Psalm 19:1-14 • Proverbs 20:1

The One Year Devotional used by permission from Bethany World Prayer Center and Pastor Larry Stockstill . For more information, please see www.bethany.com or www.bccn.com.