He's Faithful

Good morning!

On Sunday morning Pastor Mona shared a message with us called "Committed to the Journey" and she used the life of Asa as an example of one's life who goes from trusting God wholeheartedly, to then not and what that ultimately leads to. Please read this wonderful devotion by Lysa TerKeurst that goes along so well with her sermon.

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV)

"Trying to control your own life is exhausting.
Ask me how I know.
With my mouth, I say I trust God, but in reality, I get overwhelmed by trying to fix and control things myself. “I trust God” becomes nothing but a statement I feel I should say rather than what I’m actually living out. Distrust settles in. Self-reliance becomes my go-to. And then I wonder why I feel more and more exhausted.

If you can relate to these confessions, there are specific passages of Scripture I want us to look at together today.

Second Chronicles 16 is the last of three chapters detailing the story of Asa, king of Judah. Sadly, though, this chapter stands in sharp contrast to the two just before it. In 2 Chronicles 14-15, we learn that God had given Asa “rest on every side” because of his dependence on the Lord (2 Chronicles 14:7; 2 Chronicles 15:15, NIV). God even gave Asa victory in the face of a massive army. Yet in Chapter 16, when King Asa found himself in a border conflict with King Baasha of Israel, Asa had a sudden and surprising shift in behavior. Instead of crying out to God as he had before, Asa immediately turned to his own means of addressing the situation — misusing the treasures of the temple and placing his hope in an unwise military alliance.

The ultimate result? Unrest for Asa and his people. This king, whose faith meant victory in the past, invited battles into his future because he refused to trust God in the present.

I find his story convicting, sobering and so very important to pay attention to. Just like Asa's, our past declarations of faith are no guarantee that we will rely on God in the future. Faith is a present, ongoing choice for every believer. That’s why I want us to look at two truths from 2 Chronicles 16 that will help us keep choosing to trust God, not just with our words but also with our actions:

1) God is not blind to our circumstances or our choices to trust Him.
When life gets hard, we can sometimes wonder if God is blind to all we’re facing. But there’s a beautiful reminder tucked into the words the prophet Hanani spoke to Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:9a: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

We serve a God who sees. He is an all-knowing, ever-present God who is continually aware of every detail of our lives. And not only is God aware, but He’s also looking to strengthen individuals who are willing to wholeheartedly place their trust in Him.

2) God has been faithful before, and He will be faithful again.
I wonder how differently Asa’s future would have turned out if he had stopped to remember God’s faithfulness to him in the past.

Fear makes us forgetful. This is why we must purposefully look back and trace God’s hand of faithfulness in our lives. God’s faithfulness before assures us He will be faithful again. (Hebrews 10:35-36) We see this truth not only as we look back at our own lives but also as we read the story of God’s faithfulness woven throughout all of Scripture.

Oh, friend. Let’s take inventory of any areas where we’re inviting not only exhaustion but possibly destruction into our lives because we’re refusing to rely on God. Do our frantic and controlling actions fail to match our faith-filled declarations? Let’s not just declare we have faith. Let’s live out loud that we believe God is good, faithful and trustworthy.

Let’s stop running to fix things our way — because then we can fix our eyes on God. (Isaiah 26:3) He sees. He knows. He cares. We can rest assured.

Father God, I confess that sometimes I forget to remember Your faithfulness from the past, especially when I am overwhelmed with unpredictable things today. Keep reminding me that not only do You see me, but You love me. I don’t know exactly what tomorrow will look like, but I do know who I’ll be looking to — You, Lord. Your love is unfailing, and in Your hand is the safest place to put my hope. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."

Have a blessed day!

Ash