For years Asa reigning in Judah there was no war because God had given him rest. This is because he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and destroyed everything belonging to foreign gods. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.
God is always ready to give us rest and all we have to do is to seek for his presence. He is ready to deliver us from all troubles in our lives as long as we set our hearts to seek him. He is our God and all we have to do is to be His people and He will dwell in us.
"Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, HE WILL BE FOUND BY YOU; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and sought Him, HE WAS FOUND BY THEM.(2 Chronicles 15:1-4).
This simply means that if we transgress from doing His will we lose sight of Him. Sin is what separates us from his presence. We have to repent and He will restore us to serve him. When you repent from your wrongdoings, you are basically turning back to Him and definitely you will find Him. Interestingly, like the Israelites we rush back to God when we are in trouble, but the Lord, being the Good Shepherd is always welcoming.
When Asa heard this prophecy he called his people and they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord of their fathers WITH ALL THEIR HEART and WITH ALL THEIR SOUL and whoever was against the covenant was put to death. This is an indication of how much they dedicated themselves to seeking the Lord as a unity.
They even made an oath before God. "And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and HE WAS FOUND BY THEM, and the LORD gave them rest all around." (2 Chronicles 15:15).
I am putting an emphasis on the statement "He was found by them" because it gives assurance that if you seek the Lord with all your heart and soul you will surely find Him. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him; to all who call upon Him in truth.
The story of Asa is a great lesson on relying on God's wisdom as well as leaning to your own understanding. He made a treaty with Ben-Hadad the King of Syria, in a bid to overcome Baasha king of Israel.
God was not pleased with Asa that he relied on the Kind of Syria instead of the Lord. He sent Hannan to Asa who said, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars." (2 Chronicles 16:9).
God simply removed his protection and troubles began. Three years later Asa became ill and even worse he did not seek for the Lord even in his sickness. That is the sad story. For the better part of his life he was loyal to God and enjoyed God's presence but he lost it and died a sinner. We have to be loyal and seek God's presence to the end. Even when we falter along the way, we have to rise up and mend our ways, seeking for the Lord.
His son Jehoshaphat took over the reigns. Like his father, he continued to seek for the Lord. However, he erred by assisting Ahab who disobeyed God's word to go into a battle. Ahab was killed but Jehoshaphat safely returned home.
"And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you. Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and HAVE PREPARED YOUR HEART TO SEEK GOD" (2 Chronicles 19: 2-3).
Jehoshaphat was saved because he continued earnestly to rely on God's power (although he emulated his father by disobeying God towards the end of his reign). Even when you have lost track, God is always available to restore you, as long as you earnestly seek Him with all your heart and soul all the time!
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