July 25
2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14; Romans 9:1-24; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 20:1
When I (Tom) was in Bible college I was terribly frustrated I did not have as much time to work with my church’s youth group as I would have liked. It was all I could do to work 20 hours a week and take five classes a semester. When I came upon King Asa’s story, I felt like God showed me his plan for the next four years of my life.
Asa’s life followed a pattern which I realized I needed to follow in my own life. First, He got right with God. He dealt with the sins of Israel by cleaning house, tearing down the altars to foreign gods, and having the nation seek God. God then gave him peace. During that time of peace, Asa did not sit back and relax. He rebuilt Israel both spiritually and by fortifying its cities.
I realized my time in college was my time of peace. The calm before the storm. It was my time to soak in the knowledge of God and become spiritually stronger. This thought calmed me and gave me a passion for learning about God’s word which is illustrated in Psalm 19:7-11. After a time of peace, God put Asa and Israel through some very difficult trials. They were under attack. During my first year as a youth pastor, my youth group had all kinds of spiritual attacks. Again, I drew knowledge from what I learned from King Asa. When the circumstances seemed impossible, the King cried out to God for help. He did not try to do it alone. He did not try to manipulate the situation. No, he just cried out to God. God loves to get the credit for the victories, so I try to remember to cry out to God when things are out of control.
Despite the amazing beginning of his reign, Asa’s story has a sad ending. At the end of his kingship, he broke the pattern. He did not cry out to God in the final chapters of his life; instead he manipulated the situation and made treaties with the enemies of Israel. He suffered greatly for that decision and missed out on another major victory from God.
It is timely that I reread this story again today, because I have a heavy heart about a trial I’m facing and I was so tempted to fix it before crying out to God. It is amazing to me how many times this obscure story from 2 Chronicles has impacted my life.
Father God, help me to seek you more passionately and to call on you for help when things seem out of control. Amen.
Question of the day: Where in life are you tempted to rely on yourself instead of crying out to God?
When I (Tom) was in Bible college I was terribly frustrated I did not have as much time to work with my church’s youth group as I would have liked. It was all I could do to work 20 hours a week and take five classes a semester. When I came upon King Asa’s story, I felt like God showed me his plan for the next four years of my life.
Asa’s life followed a pattern which I realized I needed to follow in my own life. First, He got right with God. He dealt with the sins of Israel by cleaning house, tearing down the altars to foreign gods, and having the nation seek God. God then gave him peace. During that time of peace, Asa did not sit back and relax. He rebuilt Israel both spiritually and by fortifying its cities.
I realized my time in college was my time of peace. The calm before the storm. It was my time to soak in the knowledge of God and become spiritually stronger. This thought calmed me and gave me a passion for learning about God’s word which is illustrated in Psalm 19:7-11. After a time of peace, God put Asa and Israel through some very difficult trials. They were under attack. During my first year as a youth pastor, my youth group had all kinds of spiritual attacks. Again, I drew knowledge from what I learned from King Asa. When the circumstances seemed impossible, the King cried out to God for help. He did not try to do it alone. He did not try to manipulate the situation. No, he just cried out to God. God loves to get the credit for the victories, so I try to remember to cry out to God when things are out of control.
Despite the amazing beginning of his reign, Asa’s story has a sad ending. At the end of his kingship, he broke the pattern. He did not cry out to God in the final chapters of his life; instead he manipulated the situation and made treaties with the enemies of Israel. He suffered greatly for that decision and missed out on another major victory from God.
It is timely that I reread this story again today, because I have a heavy heart about a trial I’m facing and I was so tempted to fix it before crying out to God. It is amazing to me how many times this obscure story from 2 Chronicles has impacted my life.
Father God, help me to seek you more passionately and to call on you for help when things seem out of control. Amen.
Question of the day: Where in life are you tempted to rely on yourself instead of crying out to God?
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