Asa was faithful to God, until the day when he wasn’t. You’ve probably heard the saying, “If you squeeze a tube of toothpaste, you’ll learn what’s inside.” When Asa was squeezed, we learn that his trust in God only reached so far.
The Judean king was pressed by the northern kingdom king, Baasha.
There was war between Asa and King Baasha of Israel all their days. King Baasha of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to King Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:16-17).
Asa may have removed the idols from Judah, but he missed one – his fearful self-will. Notice in the verses below that not one mention is made of Asa seeking guidance in prayer or from a prophet.
Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants.
King Asa sent them to King Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon son of Hezion of Aram, who resided in Damascus, saying,
“Let there be an alliance between me and you, like that between my father and your father: I am sending you a present of silver and gold; go, break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he may withdraw from me.” (1 Kings 15:18-190).
Ben-hadad conquered the Israelites and Basasha retreated to Tirzah. This permitted the Judeans to remove the stones from Ramah and build fortresses near their border.
All was good for Asa, except he abandoned God and paid tribute to the Syrian king. What would have happened, if Asa had taken the time to discover God’s plan for the nation? We don’t know, because apparently he didn’t seek God’s guidance.
Decision-Making
It is never a good decision-making strategy to ignore God. I wonder how unique it would be for a corporate executive to stop a board meeting with these words: “Before we go any further, let’s take the time to discover what God wants us to do.”?
That question isn’t reserved for corporations. How many times do we make a decision and ignore what God may think of our choice?
Another poor decision-making strategy is to know what God wants, but to choose not to act on it. When we look the truth or God’s will right in the face and choose to walk away, we’ve made an awful choice. The Bible calls this “transgression.”
Henry Blackaby details good decision-making in his Experiencing God material. Below is an outline of his strategy.
(1) Recognize that God is at work in the world.
(2) Through the activity of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, humans can have a relationship with God that is real and personal. We choose to live in that relationship.
(3) God reveals to us what He is doing and invites us to join Him in His work.
(4) When we see what God is doing, we join His activity, even if it stretches our faith.
(5) As we adjust our attitudes and actions to join God in His work, we experience God is more meaningful ways.
Most of us don’t have the responsibilities of a corporation or a kingdom to consider. Just the same, what would happen if we began each day in prayer and obedience to God’s will?
Here is a suggested way to approach God first thing in the morning.
- We meet with God, and thank Him for the privilege and responsibility of living in a personal relationship with Him.
- We ask God to show us where He is at work in the world.
- We tell God that our desire is to join Him in His work and ask Him to give us the Holy Spirit’s power to accomplish it.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 