ASA: NOT BY STRENGTH

1 Kings 15:9–24; 2 Chronicles 14—16

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. (2 Chronicles 14:2)

It is an honor to interview a good king when there have been so many bad ones.

“Good” is a relative term among men and kings. The Lord is good. Even the best of men are weak and foolish.

What one thing have you learned during your long reign?

I have learned this: “It is not by strength that one prevails.” I might have learned it much sooner, because Hannah, the mother of Samuel, spoke these words long ago. But it is only now, near the end of my days, that I begin to see Hannah’s wisdom. Even so, I have not learned it completely.

Will you give us an example of what you mean?

You have heard of my fortified cities and my army of half a million men. Then Zerah the Cushite came against me with an army twice that size. My only prayer was that the Lord would help the powerless against the mighty. My army prevailed, but not by its own might.

Why do you say you have not learned this completely?

Four years ago the king of Israel meant to invade our land. Instead of relying on the Lord, I sent silver and gold to Ben-Hadad in Damascus, who attacked Israel from the rear. Thus we fought off the invasion, but at the same time we were plunged into further war.

You spoke of relying on God rather than on personal strength. But what about the endless wars in your people’s history?

Not endless. Our prophets could tell you more about this than I can. For now, our people must survive. In days to come, however, a king will rise from David’s royal house. He will—well, I cannot tell you what he will do, exactly. But his kingdom will bring peace and justice. Then these hideous wars will end.

What one thing do you most want to tell our readers?

Rely upon the Lord. I have not always done so, and I am the worse for it.

Forgive me for not walking with you through the garden to the gate. You see the problem I have with my feet. Even as an old man I remain foolish. I have sought physicians, but I have sought the Lord too late!

BACK TO THE FUTURE

• In what areas of your life are you tempted to rely on your own strength?
• Right now finances are the spotlight of the conversation. I have been given a financial blessing in the form of unemployment and instead of trusting God with what I was given, I am steady trying to prosper my family instead of hearing from God. FOOLISH ME.
• How would you respond to someone who asked you, “What does it mean to rely on the strength of the Lord?”
• Just Listen. The counsel of the Lord is available for those who so desire. Jesus ministry was tilted to farmers and fisher men who lived simplistic lives. All that to say that he is not hiding from us if we are looking, if not he is hidden in plain sight. The other thing I would consider is Look on Your Heart. We are told in the word that the heart is deceitfully wicked = dirtier than it lets on. The examination of the heart is done by the words of our mouth...so then how speak reveals the contents of our heart....no emotion can cover this neither can any drug sedate or stimulate. Jesus says out of the abundance the heart the mouth speaks and those things that come from our mouth defile us....What a warning to what our mouthes. The easiest safe guard is to keep God's word in your mouth.
• What practical steps can you take to become more dependent on the Lord’s strength?
• Trust in the lord with all your heart.....Lean not to your own understand....But ALL your ways ACKNOWLEDGE Him and....He will DIRECT your paths.
• Dependency is a matter of a honest and true assessment of our own state. If then I am to acknowledge that I am without hope without God in this world , and that His my love, my light, my hope and my peace I then I have no other choice.
• Leaning to your own understanding is equivalent to saying I have something else other than God that I can depend on and the proof is I choose that as I understand it, but then we are taught how to wean from that kind of living independent of God which then is our issue.
• In ALL your way ACKNOWLEDGE HIM and.... I am in love with this part because it is more than just praying about everything before you do it, its saying that God's hand is involved in everything that I am doing, God is not removed from the affairs of my life and he is concerned with each step of my life, not just the ones I think matter. He is a provider and keeper so if he is to keep me in all my ways...he is to be present in all my ways. So then it turns our prayer for petition into a prayer for guidance and wisdom which then the Lord gives liberally.
• He will DIRECT your paths.... Jesus calls out to us for the comfort in the form of his rest but we wont get it if we wont OBEY.  The premise of our relationship is weighing on our commitment to obey him....no man can follow whom he will not obey.

Read Asa’s Story:

The detail is found in 1 Kings 15:9–24; 2 Chronicles 14—16. Also Read Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2:1–10.

Prayer

This is a request for your guidance as it concerns my life. I have never asked you but once what you want for my life but I know from experience that where you lead your provide and where your provide you protect. The woman you gave me a has said some word that were not only inspired from her care for me but I believe its you in her. So I esteem her as my superior in that regard and I head her voice in tandemn with your will.

I have fear about what is a head and I am unsure of what next step to take to prosper our family....I know what I dont want but I do know what I want in the sense of how I wish to work. But I dont want to talk about it...I want you to lead me to strides that will move onward. 

Take me on a journey into my past to examine my experiences and condition of my heart and my desire. I dont wish to be lead by my passions but to live my passions out. You know my heart and you know whats in me so , i surrender to you and I ask that you lead me.