“Lessons from the Life of King Asa: A Story of Faith, Repentance, and God’s Faithfulness”

Drop your defenses

No one enjoys being corrected. I think back to when I was a child, and I would get in trouble with my parents. I would spend the afternoon pouting in my bedroom with hurt feelings often, becoming angry at my parents. We can do this to God when he corrects us too but there’s another choice that is far more beneficial to our relationship with God and to our life than to get angry and bitter when corrected.

Today I want to look at King Asa in 2 Chronicles because he’s a perfect example of what not to do when corrected by God, through his Holy Spirit, get bitter. The other choice when God corrects us is to repent and change our ways it’s our choice how we respond but each has a different outcome.

I want to look at both responses and the result and how the correct response can deepen our relationship with God while the incorrect response can push us further away, I want to discuss how we can make the right choice to repent and to walk with Christ instead of choosing bitterness and distance from God.

Context

The story of King Asa begins in 2 Chronicles 14 when Abijah died. Asa became the new king of Judah and there was peace in the land for 10 years (2 Chronicles 14:1).

After 10 years of peace in the land of Judah, an Ethiopian king attacked and overcame them. King Asa in his overwhelm called out to God and prayed that he would help them in the battle. God heard Asa’s cry and defeated the Ethiopians. (2 Chronicles 14:9-12) Once again there was peace in the land.

After some years there came another attack on the Kingdom of Judah while King Asa was reigning this time instead of calling out to the Lord, he put his trust in his military. The prophet Hanani came to see King Asa and told him that because he put his trust in his allies and military instead of God, he missed the chance to see his enemies destroyed. God asked if he remembered what happened with The Ethiopians and told him that because he did not trust in Him he would now be at war instead of peace. Asa became angry with Hanani for his message, he threw him into prison and at that time he began to oppress some of his people (2 Chronicles 16:10)

The life and reign of King Asa came to an end when he contracted a serious foot disease. He did not seek the Lord for healing but instead relied only on his physicians. He died from a foot infection and was buried.

Observations

One thing that stood out to me in the story of King Asa, in 2 Chronicles, is that after God corrected him for relying on his own strength, he became resentful and bitter. He wouldn’t rely on God for anything. Instead, of taking the correction and changing his ways, or repenting, he decided to grow bitter, and his life was harder. He would not rely on God anymore because he turned his back and decided to trust in his man-made power instead of God’s supernatural power, even to the point of death. When he was dying from a foot disease, which I can only imagine in King Asa’s time was painful and unpleasant, still he remained bitter about being corrected by God, years earlier, and refused to pray for relief or healing and he ended up dying.

Our pride can be so damaging to our relationship with God. We focused on how we feel and how correction makes us look like we don’t hear what God is saying and are unable to grow and change in our relationship with Him.

That’s why earlier in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways I will hear from heaven I will forgive their sin and I will restore their land.”

The first step to having a right relationship with God is humbling ourselves. Acknowledging that we have sinned, or fallen short of God’s standard, or his law. As humble people, when God points out something we’ve done wrong we are willing to accept it because we already acknowledged and accepted our weaknesses and are ready to let Jesus change us. (Romans 3:23) Accepting a problem is the first step to change.

Meaning

If we want a thriving and deep relationship with Jesus, there are some things that we must do:

• We must humble ourselves, accepting our weakness and his strength.
• We must pray to keep in constant contact with God allowing him to speak to us throughout our day and in our lives. Correcting our course as we go so, we do not get off course in our relationship with Him.
• We must seek his face in all that we do. We must want to honor God and to see him in our lives.
• finally, we must turn from our wicked ways or the things that do not please God and substitute them for things that do. If we do these things then God will heal us, he will forgive us, and he will heal our land.

If we are willing to do what the Lord, asks of us then we will see true abundance in our lives and intimacy in our relationship with Jesus and others.

Apply

How can stay receptive to the correcting voice of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives? I cannot say it enough about staying humble. The best way to do this is to learn verses that illustrate the power of God. There is nothing like seeing how big, powerful, and wonderful God is to remind us that we are small. I don’t mean being down on ourselves, but just realizing that compared to God we are small. Because we aren’t God, we must allow God to call the shots in life because He sees all, knows all, and only wants the best for us. Here are some of my personal favorites, but I encourage everyone to dive into the Word of God for themselves and discover verses for yourself:

• All Have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Roman 3:23
• I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made your works are wonderful, I know that full well Psalms 139:14

• My God shall supply all your needs according to her riches in glory by Christ Jesus Philippians 4:19

• The Lord is my strength and song; He has given me victory… Exodus 15:1

These verses show that God is the one that provides, protects, and gives life and victory, without Him, we would not exist knowing these truths has helped keep me humble. When I put my abilities in comparison with God there is no comparison. Knowing that He is greater than it helps me to be receptive, even excited at times, to receive corrections from Him. I know that if He corrects me and I obey I will be more like Him and I will walk closer to Him and that is my goal.

Conclusion

No one wants to be rebuked, but what’s worse than being corrected is being distant from God. Unconfessed, or acknowledged, sin separates us from God. To prevent distance between us and our creator we must be willing to acknowledge our weakness and sins and correct our path.

King Asa was a faithful king who loved God, but when He was rebuked instead of growing from the correction, he became bitter. Sin and bitterness fractured his relationship with God, and his people, and eventually, he died of something God could have healed because he refused to call out to God.

To avoid similar bitterness and brokenness we need to stay humble, always willing to talk and listen to God. When God points out an area of sin, we need to be willing and ready to walk away from whatever is causing sin in our lives, to avoid the disconnect sin creates. Finally, if we live our lives that God will be honored, He will always be near to us.