2 Chronicles 15:2

New International Version

He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lordis with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

For Encouragement

We all need encouragement. It is like a cool breeze that refreshes the body and energizes the spirit to soar to greater heights. Parents do well with their children when they speak kind and encouraging words. They motivate the children to do more and to improve, and there is no capable parent than the Lord of Heaven.

King Asa had honored Him by reforming Judah and ridding it of idolatry. The king had leaned on Yahweh in the national crisis and prevailed. But knowing the capricious nature of the human heart and its tendency to yield to the allurement of victories and tranquil life, God stepped in to encourage Asa and to warn him. 

The Lord sent the prophet Azaria with a message for the king. It was a promise with a warning (15:1-2) 

“Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, you will find him, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” (2).

God knows us intrinsically, as well as our future. So, when He speaks, we must listen meditatively for counsel and guidance for the future. 

Asa passed the second test of faith. The word of the Lord encouraged him to embark on a massive reform (8-19). He increased the effort to uproot idolatry from Judah, Benjamin, and the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim in the Northern kingdom. He gathered the people, sacrificed to the Lord, and covenanted with Him (9-12). They sought the Lord in everything, and to make an uncompromising statement to the nation, he removed his grandmother, Maacah, from her position as queen mother (16). For such bravado, God honored King Asa and the kingdom with His peace. 

The critical test of our faith and commitment to God is when we live in an atmosphere of prosperity and peace. The prosperous king of Judah had to confront that mountain, but will he conquer it? Will Asa remember the warning from the prophet Azaria and, although at ease, to stay alert, or will he succumb to the lure of power and human adoration.

Each of us must battle this tendency to welcome fame without guardrails and accept human worship that subtly usurps the throne of God.

Maybe you are there now and are failing. Remember, God shares His glory with no one (Isa 42:8) and has never been kind to rebellion (14:12-15; Psa. 2:1-12). 

As we observe Lent, therefore, let us allow the conditional promise of the Lord to Asa to encourage us to continue living uprightly with Him and to do more for the glory of God.

May we allow the atmosphere of solemnity and penitence to humble us and turn us away from the slippery slope of pride, an attitude the Lord hates (Prov. 6:16).

Amen!

Shalom.