Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Chronicles 16-18

Highlight Verse:

“At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In his early years, King Asa was a good king.

He fully trusted God, despite how his father behaved.

In his later years, he let his faith falter.

It got so bad that, when he was confronted for his bad decision to ally with Ben Hadad, he didn’t just get defensive, he threw the prophet in jail.

A person’s faith can change over the course of their life.

Some who are zealous in their youth become lukewarm later on.

Anger, temptation, pride, fear, and even wealth can distract us from our dedication to God.

• Anger unchecked can lead to bitterness against others and against God.
• Temptation and sin can cause us to to ignore the inner pleadings of faith to obey.
• Pride puts us in the place of God, since we are not God, that won’t end well.
• Fear can cause us to rely on only what we can see to save us from perceived trouble.
• Wealth can cause us to rely on money instead of God.

Wealth, along with an unhealthy dose of fear convinced Asa to rely on the physical help he could see rather than the perfect but unseen help of God.

It is very easy for us to fall into the same trap.

We don’t tithe or give for fear God won’t provide for us.

We fear speaking up thinking we will offend someone, even though we could be the only Jesus that person might see.

We don’t confess for fear we will be rejected.

Ironically, our fear is what brings the very failure we’ve tried to avoid.

When we step out in faith, God’s blessings cannot be stopped.

What are you facing that causes fear to rise up and stop you?
Have you had times when you stepped out in faith and seen tremendous blessings as a result? Please share!