Getting Home Safe
Today’s reading: 2 Chronicles 11:18-16:14
My selection: 2 Chronicles 16:7-10
At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not cthe Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 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.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
My reflections: Asa in the early years of his reign relied on the Lord for victory. Sadly, later on he foolishly looked to the king of Syria for deliverance. As a result, he was confronted by the prophet Hanani and rebuked for this decision. Asa would have wars for the rest of his reign.
My challenge: Faithfulness is a daily battle that never ends. Neither we nor King Asa may rely on past victories for current challenges. Asa started well but ended badly. In the final two years of his life, he personally was afflicted with a severe disease in his feet. Even that suffering did not turn his heart toward the Lord in faith but he trusted in physicians alone.
Pray that you may never waver from loving and trusting in the Lord until He takes you safely home. In the words of the great old hymn.
“O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.”
“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” by Bernard of Clairveaux
Tomorrow’s reading: 2 Chronicles 17:1-20:30