Solomon’s great-grandson, Asa, faced a big enemy after he became king of Israel, even though he was doing the right things. He enforced God’s laws, commanded the people to seek the one true God and officially sanctioned sin – the worshiping of foreign idols, paganism and the like.
Asa did “what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God” (2 Chronicles 14:2) and there was peace in Judah for 10 years during his reign.
But then someone powerful rose against him. Isn’t that always the way? You’re minding your own business, doing your best to serve the Lord, but trouble still finds you. You get a worrying diagnosis, you lose your job, your marriage is threatened, or it could be any number of things that qualify as trouble.
Can you imagine Asa’s frame of mind? He endured several sleepless nights as a formidable army of one million soldiers loomed on the horizon. Zerah, an Ethiopian challenger who commanded the army, also had 300 chariots. The combined total of Benjamin and Judah’s fighting men was roughly half that, and the difference in manpower and equipment was laughable.
But then came the game-changer:
“Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, ‘O Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and the weak; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in and rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.'” (2 Chronicles 14:11 AMP)
Asa recognized his weaknesses and limitations, but knew that the Lord our God has none. He asked God for help and our God came through in an awesome way.
“The Lord struck the Ethiopians with defeat before Asa and Judah and the Ethiopians fled” (2 Chronicles 14:12, AMP).
It’s the same today. God has met our need before we must rise against it, and humbling ourselves to his power can also help us make it through to victory (though sometimes, that looks different than how we imagined). Jesus also died on the cross and struck the enemy of our souls with defeat before we ever gave our lives to Him. And to top it all off, He left us a Helper – the Holy Spirit, who is always on standby to pray, intercede, comfort, strengthen and help us.
John 14:16 (AMP), “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth…”
No matter what enemy you face today, the Lord is able, willing and ready to help you. The odds may seem insurmountable like they probably did to Asa, but I want you to remember what Jesus said in Luke 18:27 (AMP), “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
This article first appeared on reflectionsinthemess.com
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