DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- SEEKING GOD

DAD'S RAMBLINGS --SEEKING GOD

"Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to Asa, and said to him: 'Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.' " (II Chronicles 15:1-2).

King Asa had a promise from God that if he would walk with God and trust Him, that God would be with him. But if he forsook God, God would forsake him. Let's see how this worked out for Asa.

The record says that the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. And God gave the nation peace without war for the first 35 years of Asa's reign (vss. 17-18). However, in the 36^th year of Asa's reign, the northern nation of Israel came against Judah. Here's the stickler. Instead of seeking God and God's help, Asa took the silver and gold from the house of the LORD and enlisted the help of the King of Syria – Ben Hadad. Now Ben Hadad had a treaty with Israel. So in effect, Asa bought off Ben Hadad. And it worked. When King Baasha, the king of Israel, learned of this, he withdrew from his attack against Judah. Sounds good, doesn't it?

However, God was not happy with the arrangement. God sent a messenger to Asa, and said to him, " 'Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.' " Then God reminded Asa of the time many years before when God had delivered Judah from the Ethiopians and their million-man army (II Chronicles 14:8-12, which we talked about yesterday). So God said to Asa, " 'The eyes of the LORD run to and fro through the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him' " (vs. 9).

God want to show Himself strong to people who will seek Him and trust Him. It is human weakness to trust human help rather than turning to God first. Sometimes we think we can figure it all out and make our own plans rather than seeking God. But God is searching the whole earth for those who are loyal to Him so He can show Himself strong. The only hope for a nation or for an individual is to seek God. It is not our might or our devices that delivers us but by God's strong arm. " 'Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit,' says the LORD."

Love, Dad