Our response to difficult circumstances reveals the true object of our trust....

This week we have been looking at the life of a king who led the Jewish people named Asa. Wednesday, we looked on as the Jewish people of the Southern Kingdom responded to King Asa's leadership and his confident trust in the Lord by reaffirming their covenant commitment to follow the Lord. From the core of their beings, the Jewish people sought to follow the Lord. And, just as the prophet Azariah had promised, the Lord's presence was evident in the lives of the Jewish people, which led the Jewish people to rejoice over their willingness to trust and follow the Lord. And, just as the prophet Azariah had promised, the Lord responded to the Jewish people's desire to seek and trust Him by giving them peace and prosperity.

Now if King Asa’s story had ended there, King Asa’s story would have been the perfect story. However, King Asa’s story did not end there. Instead, King Asa’s story took a turn for the worse that Ezra records for us in 2 Chronicles 16:1. Let’s look at it together:

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the king's house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, "Let there be a treaty between you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me." So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. When Baasha heard of it, he ceased fortifying Ramah and stopped his work. Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.

In 895 B.C., only four years after witnessing the Lord's supernatural intervention against the Egyptian Kingdom, and reaffirming their covenant commitment to follow the Lord, the Southern Kingdom of Judah found themselves under attack again, this time by the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Northern Kingdom invaded the Southern Kingdom and ordered a military blockade in the city of Ramah, which was located only 6 miles north of Jerusalem on a major north-south trade route to Jerusalem.

However, instead of trusting and relying on the Lord in the midst of this military blockade; Instead crying and turning to the Lord in desperation in the midst of his difficult circumstances for help, King Asa turned to Ben-hadad the king of Aram, which was located in modern day Syria. King Asa took the silver and gold that was to be used for the upkeep of the Temple and the worship of the Lord to pay the King of Aram to break his peace treaty with the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Upon receiving the money from King Asa, the King of Aram attacked the Northern Kingdom, which resulted in a lifting of the blockade. King Asa then ordered that the materials that were used in the blockade be recycled in order to strengthen the northern defenses of the Southern Kingdom, which were the cities of Geba and Mizpah. And once again, King Asa was met by a messenger from the Lord with a message from the Lord. A message the Ezra records for us in 2 Chronicles 16:7:

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. "Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars."

What is so interesting is that when the prophet Hanani uses the word relied on, this phrase is a word picture of one leaning on something in a way that trusts that it will hold one's weight. In addition, the word completely conveys the sense of being undivided in one's loyalty and trust. So Hanani is basically saying to King Asa "Since you chose to lean on the King of Aram instead of the Lord in your difficult circumstances, you lost the opportunity to have a victory over those who had attacked you. How could you so quickly forget what happened when you leaned on the Lord in the face of an invading army that outnumbered you 2-1. How could you forget that when you cried to the Lord in desperation, He supernaturally intervened and delivered you. So do you not think that He could defeat the much smaller army of the Northern Kingdom? You see, King Asa, the Lord searches the earth so that He can strongly support those who are undivided in their loyalty and trust to Him. But now your foolishness that led you to lean on the King of Aram instead of the Lord will result in you having war in the future, not only with the Northern Kingdom, but also with the King of Aram". Ezra records how King Asa responded to the rebuke of the prophet in verse 10:

 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. Now, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians. So Asa slept with his fathers, having died in the forty-first year of his reign.

King Asa responded to the rebuke of the prophet by arresting the prophet and placing him in prison. In addition, King Asa took out his frustrations on the people whom he was responsible to lead by punishing those who agreed with the prophet. King Asa’s pride refused to allow him to admit that he was wrong and resulted in him oppressing anyone who questioned him.

Then, in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, in 872 B.C., Ezra tells us that King Asa became diseased in his feet.  Now while Ezra does not explain what the disease was, Ezra does tell us that the disease was severe. In fact, the disease was so severe that King Asa was incapacitated.

Yet, when faced with another desperate and difficult situation, King Asa did not cry out to the Lord for help. Instead of seeking and leaning on the Lord for help, King Asa chose to lean on the physicians. Actually these "physicians" were magicians who were involved in cultic practices that worshipped other gods than the one true God. After forty-one years ruling the Southern Kingdom of the Jewish people, King Asa died in 870 B.C. as a crippled man who was unable to lead his people.

And it is in the life of King Asa that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is this: Our response to difficult circumstances reveals the true object of our trust. Just as it was for King Asa; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; it is our response to difficult circumstances reveals the true object of our trust.

You see, it is easy to say that we trust and follow in Jesus when life is easy. It is easy to say that we trust and follow Jesus when circumstances are going our way. However, it is when life becomes difficult that we really discover what the object of our trust is. It is when we find ourselves in a desperate situation that we really discover what the object of our trust is. It is when we have done all that we can do and yet find ourselves faced with a need for help that we discover what the object of our trust is. And just as it was with King Asa, we discover the true object of our trust by how we respond to difficult circumstances. We discover the true object of our trust by who or what we run to and lean on in times of difficulty.

So here is a question to consider: How do you respond to difficult circumstances in your life? Where do you run to and lean on in difficult circumstances? Who do you cry out to in desperation when you have done all that you can do and are still in need of help? Oprah? Facebook? Alcohol and drugs? The person staring at you in the mirror?