Counting on, or depending on someone or something is very risky at best.  I am reminded about the trust exercise in which one person stands with their back to another.  They fall backward, fully counting on being caught by the one behind them.  As we go through life we endure times when what we rely on fails us and we determine to never let that happen again.  But we do have someone we can count on without fail, God, our heavenly Father.

As we studied this past week we saw an example of someone counting on God in the person of King Asa.  He had succeeded his father to the throne of Judah and immediately began to remove the elements of idolatry from the land and to prepare the land for defense against aggressors.  As it turned out, the Ethiopians eventually came up against King Asa and outnumbered his army nearly 2 to 1.  Asa didn’t fear, but he turned to God, recognizing both his weakness and the immeasurable strength of the Lord.  As a result of counting on God, Judah was victorious over the Ethiopians. 

But the story doesn’t end there.  Eventually Asa and Judah are faced with another enemy in Baasha, king of Israel and rather than turn to (and count on) God, who had been with him against the Ethiopians, Asa turned to the king of Aram.  He decided to seek aid from a past enemy rather than from a infallible friend.  Hanani the seer did not hesitate to go to king Asa and rebuke him for his foolishness and as a result “would surely have wars.”  Later, we read that when Asa became afflicted with diseased feet, he still did not turn to God for aid, but only to the physicians.

During his reign Asa was told by Azariah that “…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)  We need to learn this lesson well.  Too many are fooled into believing that God is with them when He is not.  If they look at their lives they will clearly see they are not seeking Him.  Instead they are seek the things they want in their lives, things that please them rather than what pleases God.  Is the Lord with you?  He is if you are with Him?  He is if you know what His will is and you are abiding in it.  The answer to that question is known only by you and God.

Copyright © 2003, Nolan P. Rutter