I’m currently reading through 2 Chronicles. It goes through various kings of Judah and Israel and tells of their deeds and their faithfulness (or lack thereof). Tonight I was reading about King Asa of Judah (David’s great- great-grandson). I noticed a pattern that applies to us today.

The Story of King Asa of Judah

Asa’s father, Abijah, had relied on God and had beaten the much larger army of Jeroboam of Israel. Surely, Asa was knowledgeable of this event before becoming king himself. Asa started his reign faithfully and removed foreign altars and other implements of the worship of false gods. He called the people of Judah to obey and follow God. When Judah was attacked by Zerah the Ethiopian and an army of a million men, Asa relied on God.

Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; help us, Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.” So the Lord routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. (2 Chronicles 14:11-12)

Asa is later warned by a prophet (Azariah):

The Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. (2 Chronicles 15:2b)

For many years, Asa served God so faithfully that many of the godly people in Israel defected to Judah to serve God. Unfortunately, after seeing miraculous deliverance and after serving God faithfully and leading Judah to do likewise, he slowly drifted away and put his trust in other things. When Judah was attacked by Baasha, king of Israel, instead of relying on God like he did earlier in his reign and like his father did when attacked by Jeroboam, king of Israel, he stole treasures out of the temple of God and gave them to Ben-hadad king of Aram. He sought protection from another king instead of the Creator of the universe. He had seen God be faithful, and he had seen the blessings of being faithful, but late in his reign, he drifted away from God and relied on everything but God. Just as God sent the prophet Azariah earlier in Asa’s reign, He also sent Hanani the seer to share that Asa would now have wars because he put his faith in Ben-hadad instead of the Lord God. Asa, instead of listening and humbling his heart as he had earlier in his reign, threw Hanani into prison. Then Asa got a severe disease of the feet, and he sought physicians instead of God. He lived 36 years of faithfulness, but drifted away from God in his final 5 years. What a sad way to end his life.

What can we learn from King Asa’s drift away from God?

When I think of the Christian walk, I think of a Christian slowly growing in faith and improving in faithfulness and understanding of God throughout their life. Yes, there can be times of two steps forward and one back, but the general trend should be growing closer to God. With many of Judah’s kings, and with Asa being a prime example, they followed God closely when they were young and inexperienced at being king, but drifted away and put their trust in themselves and/or others instead of in God later in life. It wasn’t that Asa hadn’t seen God do miracles. It wasn’t that Asa didn’t know what was right. Honestly, I think the problem was that things went too well, too easily, for Asa. Because of God’s blessings, Asa was successful as king (economically, spiritually, and militarily). Everything went so well that he started to believe that his success was due to himself rather than due to God’s blessing. As soon as Asa started trusting in his own strength, things started going downhill. He got out of the habit of turning to God when times got tough. When he realized he couldn’t solve his problem, he turned to other people to fix them. After many years of faithfulness, he fell away. What a sad end to someone who the Bible says “did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” Too often Christians long for the success of others. They want the fame, the fortune, the health, and other blessings that they see in others. They resent that God gave them hardship rather than all the comforts of earth. They need to realize that God knows what is best for each of us eternally. Just as Asa slowly drifted away from God when everything was going well and he was at ease, so also we tend to drift away when things are going well. We start thinking our success is all because of ourselves and forget that all good things come from God. When hard times come (like when Judah was attacked by a million-man Ethiopian army), we know we can’t handle it ourselves, so we lean on God. The more we lean on God and He provides for our needs, the easier it becomes to lean on Him. Admittedly, some of us have to be brought down to rock bottom before we give our burdens to God. (Yes, I’m talking from personal experience.) We look at those whose lives seem easy with jealousy. First, we need to know that most easy lives aren’t as easy as they appear from the outside, and also that many who experience easier lives now, got there through extreme difficulties and back-breaking, hard work. Also, that easy life may be a sign of God giving them up to their rejection of Him, while your hardship may be God drawing you close and preparing you for Heaven with Him. The very “blessing” you desire may actually be God’s rejection of the other person, while your “hardship” may be God’s blessing on you.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) {emphasis mine}

This is one of my favorite verses during hard times. He says ALL things work for good. He allows nothing to happen that isn’t for our eternal good. I know that every hardship I experience is God working good for me and those around me, even when it feels otherwise. We need to realize that this verse isn’t a promise for everyone. It is only for those who have repented and put their trust in Jesus.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) {emphasis mine}

Does all hardship work for good? No. God uses hardship for good for “those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” This wonderful promise is only for those whom God chose and who trusted Jesus as Savior.

For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He punishes every son whom He accepts. (Hebrews 12:6)

Those whose lives seem easy may frequently be those whom God has given over to their evil choices and those whose lives seem difficult may frequently be those whom God is disciplining in order to draw them closer to Him. (Admittedly sinners do often suffer the consequences of their evil choices, but not always.) I also want to clarify that the Lord’s discipline doesn’t mean that someone is guilty of heinous sins. We all sin. When Jesus was asked about which commandment was most important, we read:

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. (Matthew 22:36-38)

How many of us truly “love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart, and with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind” even once, much less always? None! Sometimes God’s discipline is just teaching us to rely on Him and to love “the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart, and with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind.” We all need help with that! I hope this post will help you view your circumstances in the way God views them, and that you will rejoice in your trials as they draw you closer to your God, Savior, and Creator. May God give us what we need, not what we desire. May He help us see our circumstances as He sees them and have a heavenly, eternal perspective of all things in life. May He use every hardship to draw us closer to Him and to enable us to be used to draw others to Him. Trust Jesus If you do not yet know Jesus, I beg you to trust in Him. Below are some verses that will tell you what you need to know to be saved. If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them. Just message me on Substack.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

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But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

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that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (Romans 10:9)

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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:9-10)

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For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

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He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

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But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

All verses are NASB unless otherwise noted.