WHERE TO GO FOR HELP

King Asa made a big enough impact on the history of Israel that he takes up three chapters in 2 Chronicles.  The story we read in today's chapters tells a sad story of a bad ending to a good king, one who did it right until the end of his reign.

I'm going to talk about three different ways Asa sought to solve his problems. One of them is an awesome promise. Another is a sad commentary. And the third? Well, what we can do help ourselves.

The promise: God will let  himself be found. (2 Chronicles 15:1-2 MSG)  When Asa paid attention to God--God promised to be available. No silent heavens. God communicated His will to Asa (even when he got into trouble.)  No silent treatment.

The response? Asa helped himself. When he heard the prophecy, he "took a deep breath, then rolled up his sleeves, and went to work." (2 Chronicles 15:7-8 MSG).  God didn't just give Asa the solution. He told him how to do it - and Asa went to work.  The reward was amazing, "peace within and without."  Peace with myself and with my fellow man?  Isn't that what we all want?

And then. . . in the 36th year of a 41 year reign. . .he messed up.  Early in his reign God had given him victory of the million-plus Ethiopian army.  Now Baasha king of Israel attacks him--and he turns to the king at Damascus for help.

Had he forgotten that God invited--commanded--him to seek God first?

Did he, perhaps, wonder if God would play favorites between Israel and Judah?

Whatever his reason, the results were disastrous. You were foolish to go for human help when you could have had God's help. (2 Chronicles 16:9 MSG)

I don'ta think the problem was so much in asking for help. It was that he didn't ask God for battle plans first.  From that point forward, he faced one military encounter after another.

There is a time and a place to ask others for help (consider the huge worship services in his reign, and the way he drew true Israelites to Judah.)  But there is a wrong time, as well.

Whenever we face a decision - let's ask God first. Ask God whether He's going to do it for us, if there is something we should do--or if it's time to ask people for help.

GOOD KING ASA (2 Chronicles 14)

Asa was a good king. ( 2 Chronicles 14:2)

Yesterday I wrote about Rehoboam, who was a "bad' king, not an "evil" one.

Asa is an example of the other end of the spectrum. He is one of only a few kings called "good" (Jotham, whom we'll meet later, is another).  In the same way Rehoboam was bad two ways--bad in behavior and bad in effectiveness--Asa was good both ways. He was a righteous man, and because he led his nation to righteous living, his kingdom was at peace. As verse 6 says, "God kept the peace."

Sigh. What a wonderful eulogy for a man.

What earned Asa the appellation of "good"?

• He did things right in God's eyes. This must have started in his personal life. He not only obeyed the law, his heart matched his behavior. In all the myriad of ways we have a choice of how to behave, Asa did things right. Not 100% of the time. None of us (except Jesus) do that. Shall we say an A for effort.
• He got rid of the centers of pagan  worship, including the sex-and-religion groves that popped back up as soon as they were smashed. 
• He led his people back to God. He not only told his people to follow the commandments, he also told them to "center their lives in God"--probably a reflection of the way he lived himself. He urged to do as God commanded through Moses--to write the law on their hearts and to talk about it wherever they were, whatever they were doing.

God honored their obedience with peace--which in turn allowed Asa to turn to fortifying Judah's defenses.  Success followed success.

Don't get sidetracked--make God the center of your lives.

That's God's measure of a good man.

Pray God I have enough left over to fortify my defenses, and not only repel attacks. (don't seem to be so well in those areas, however.)