7.25.9 "The Power of being Powerless"

"The Power of being Powerless"

2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14
Romans 9:1-24
Psalm 19:1-14
Proverbs 20:1

2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them."

I just had a picture in my mind of the old "Welcome Back, Kotter" show. As the Lord is looking across the earth, I'd be Horshack waving my arms franticly "ooh, ooh, ooh" Pick me! Show your power in helping me!

So, what's the context of this scripture? King Asa of Judah is doing a great job. He's been real careful to live a life of obedience, and lead the country to do the same. In chapter 14 the Lord helps him defeat an army of 1 million Ethiopians. In Chapter 15 Azariah had a word from the Lord telling King Asa that the Lord would be with him as long as he stayed with the Lord. King Asa listened to this, and cleansed the country of idols, even to the point of ousting his mother because she built an idol.

So, Asa's doing good! Then comes chapter 16. Asa learns that Israel is preparing for battle against Judah. He responds with a plan of his own making. Syria has an alliance with Judah, so Asa takes the silver & Gold from the temple, and sends it to the King of Syria with a message. "Here is silver and gold to induce you to break your alliance with King Baasha of Israel, so that he will leave me alone."

It worked. Sort of. It got him out of the potential war with Israel, but God wasn't happy.

This is the message that came to him through the prophet in 2 Chron. 16:7-8. "Because you have put your trust in the king of Syria instead of in the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from you. Don't you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and cavalrymen? But you relied then on the Lord, and he delivered them all into your hand." The end of verse 9 says, "What a fool you have been! From now on you shall have wars."

In 2 Chron. 16:12 says, "In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord's help but turned only to his physicians."

Bring this home. It's easy to disconnect from the message of this story about the kings of long ago. How does it apply to us? The Lord desires to use us to make his name great. How does that happen? It happens when we rely on him to give us direction in our problems and come through with answers that bring glory to his name.

When we fix things without consulting God, we rob ourselves of a victory that is greater than we could imagine. Sure, we may deflect the immediate battle, but as the word came to King Asa, the bigger plan was to defeat the Syrians, too.

We must discipline ourselves to seek God in EVERYTHING. You don't know what God wants to ultimately do through your struggle. You may be looking for a simple victory, but God is looking to do miraculous things.

Make your heart "perfect toward him" by walking in obedience. Walk in DEPENDENCE on him. When we lay our "power" down, and constantly rely on him, we will experience some incredible things.




Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship
Relationships Devoted to Unity
Empowered Through Biblical Training
Active Ministry Involvement
Mission to Reach our World for Christ