“And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with you to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on you…” – 2 Chronicles 14.11

Life is fragile.

The smallest nudge of circumstance can send us to heights of euphoria or depths of despair.

As such we face the twin danger of becoming confident in ourselves or disgusted with ourselves. Both occur when I get my eyes on my circumstances and stop being confident in the Lord.

This is why the reign of king of Asa fascinates me. He was a good king, and when faced with a massive invasion, he utters those words above.

Help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on you…

Despite being severely outnumbered, panic is absent from his prayer. It was nothing for God to intervene. Being outnumbered didn’t factor into the equation 🙂

And yet 25 years later, Asa responds differently when a smaller kingdom threatens his economy. Asa takes the money from people’s offerings at the temple to buy off a pagan king to help him. It succeeds.

But not without cost.

Because Asa never came to the Lord with this lesser problem, God sent the prophet Hanani to rebuke him. He reminds him of that event  25 years earlier when God rescued them from the invading army.

“…because you did rely on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” – 2 Chronicles 16:8b-9.

I’m so glad my God longs to show Himself strong on my behalf! That He isn’t far off or too busy. I’m so thankful I can always have confidence in His willingness to work in and through my life!

Have you taken time today to place all your confidence in the Lord? Whether things are awesome or fragile, stop for a moment and lay them at His feet 🙂