Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. - 2 Chronicles 14:2-5
Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. - 2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. "Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.".....At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison.....In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. - verses from 2 Chronicles 16
Yes, yes, I know it's a very long passage. But King Asa's life is intriguing.
It serves as a reminder that though we may be fully committed to God, we can still lack faith in Him. And when we lack faith in God, we have to bear the consequences.
I guess what I don't understand is the reason behind King Asa's lack of faith. God has helped him so many times, been with him, and yet...
The best conclusion I can come to, through my own experience, is that we humans have too short a memory. We keep forgetting how awesome God is. There's a mechanism in us which always makes us fear that God will fail to come through for us, and I think this is because of our life experiences with human beings, because everyone around us has failed us at least once, and hurt us many times over.
The thing is to remember that God is not human.
Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. - 2 Chronicles 15:17
Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. "Let there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.".....At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison.....In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. - verses from 2 Chronicles 16
Yes, yes, I know it's a very long passage. But King Asa's life is intriguing.
It serves as a reminder that though we may be fully committed to God, we can still lack faith in Him. And when we lack faith in God, we have to bear the consequences.
I guess what I don't understand is the reason behind King Asa's lack of faith. God has helped him so many times, been with him, and yet...
The best conclusion I can come to, through my own experience, is that we humans have too short a memory. We keep forgetting how awesome God is. There's a mechanism in us which always makes us fear that God will fail to come through for us, and I think this is because of our life experiences with human beings, because everyone around us has failed us at least once, and hurt us many times over.
The thing is to remember that God is not human.
posted by sleepypurplepiglet at 3:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home