Are you tired? Worn out from fighting battles that you think will never end?
King Asa (Judah) faced a battle against King Baasha (Israel). He had a choice to make on how he would fight it. Would he rely on God, or would he figure out another plan that made sense to him? Let’s see how it turned out.
At the beginning of his reign, Asa and the people of Judah made a covenant with God to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul (2 Chronicles 15:12). Why would they do this? Well, God had made Asa a promise: The LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you (2 Chronicles 15:2).
Asa took God at His word and set out to rule the kingdom in the right way. He would seek God, and trust that God had his back in all endeavors. And for a time, this was the happy circumstances of His time on the throne, as the LORD gave them rest on every side (15:15). Asa removed both the idols and the idol-worshippers from his kingdom and restored the proper Temple worship.
Late in life, however, something changed. Perhaps ease brought apathy. When King Baasha threatened war, Asa turned to “the enemy of his enemy” to support him. He forgot to ask for God’s advice or help and relied on his own battle plan. He made an alliance with the king of Aram, which did indeed give a temporary reprieve against Baasha. It seemed his plan had worked.
Well, it did…but it didn’t.
God sends word by a prophet to Asa, rebuking him for relying on a foreign king instead of relying on God. Asa’s plan to defeat one enemy has simply given another enemy entry into his life, and in the future, there would be more wars. Asa isn’t as spiritually mature as we’d like to think. The news makes him angry, and in the last years of his life, he wastes away with disease, refusing to call on the LORD for help and instead trusted his physicians who couldn’t heal him. He ruled for 41 years but is remembered for wasting the last five.
What battles are you fighting with your own plans? How’s it working out for you? As a Christ-follower, God is for you, and is willing and able to step in and do battle on your behalf. But according to His words to Asa, He waits for us to ask. He desires our dependence. He is looking for us to acknowledge Him and seek Him out. He wants to know that He has our whole heart, that we are not just in a dysfunctional relationship whereby we do life on our own terms until we’re so desperate we have to cry out to Him.
For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His (2 Chronicles 16:9).
If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you (2 Chronicles 15:2).
As New Testament believers, our salvation is secure. We are in Christ, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Jesus marked our sin debt “paid in full” and we are destined for heaven when we leave this world. But how we live while we remain in these fleshly bodies is up to us. We can seek God with a whole heart and a willing mind, and live in victory, or we can do life on our own strength and human plans and get no rest at all. We will live in a perpetual state of battle. The choice is up to us.
Two practical thoughts. To “seek God” is to pursue knowing Him. The Hebrew word is dāraš, and means “to resort to, to frequent or tread a place (i.e. ‘beat a path to’); to consult, inquire of; to seek in prayer and worship; to investigate, ask for; to require or demand (i.e. ‘can’t live without Him’); to practice, study, follow; to seek with care.” Do you get the idea? Seeking God means that we are fully focused on knowing, following, and obeying Him, and consulting Him in every part of our lives.
Also, you will notice I intentionally capitalized “LORD” in referencing the verses, just as it is written in my Bible. This is the name of God, Jehovah, or Yahweh. It means “the self-existing One.” It is the name He used when He told Moses to refer to Him as “I AM.”
Whatever battle you are facing, “HE IS.”
Do you need peace for your anxiety? He is peace.
Do you need wisdom to raise your kids? He is wisdom.
Do you need power to overcome addiction? He is power.
Do you need courage to stand firm? He is courage.
Do you need healing of any kind? He is healing.
Do you need hope for today? He is hope.
Do you need forgiveness for your sin? He is forgiveness.
Whatever your battle is, stop plotting and planning and figuring things out on your own. Seek the LORD with all your heart and soul. He is looking for those whose heart is completely His, that He may strongly support you.
The Way Of The Word 
Please can you explain to me where is says IF WE FORSAKE GOD HE WILL FORSAKE US, since God tells us HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US . This seems to be a contradiction, however I don’t believe that God does contradict himself, so am assuming that there is a deeper meaning in the Hebrew. Thanks.
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Hi Gillian! That’s a great question. I looked up the Hebrew word “forsake” and it does mean to leave, or forsake, but can also mean to “let loose.” Two thoughts. We know that God has never abandoned Israel but many times He allowed them to “go their way” in rebellion and let the natural consequences of their sin play out. They cycled through many times when they would promise to worship God, then be pulled away by foreign gods, and turn away from Him. It was not until they cried out in repentance that He rescued them. Perhaps for God to forsake those who forsake Him, is a way of saying He allows us to exert the gift of free will and wander away; He lets us loose, and as a result, those who go astray are forsaken by God in that they are no longer enjoy the blessings of His favor and protection from sin and the world. Secondly, as New Testament believers we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, so in a very real way, He never forsakes us. He is always in us, although we still have free will to grieve and deny the Spirit’s conviction and direction. That promise in Hebrews 13:5 is addressed to N.T. believers. The O.T. saints kept the law as a way of looking forward to the sacrifice Jesus would make; when they forsook the Law and God’s commandments, He turned away from them. We obey the Spirit, looking back to the cross. When we disobey, we are not forsaken but we do move out of the shelter of God’s protection and He often lets us suffer so that we will return. Hope that helps!
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Thank you for taking the time to research and reply. I can see what you mean, and this really makes sense to me now. Thank you again, I do appreciate this.
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