Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Challenges of Faith


When difficult times are upon us, we are challenged in our faith as to whom we will depend on to get us through.  Will we patiently wait for God to move or will we look to someone else to come to our rescue?  Do we really trust God to show up or do we move ahead with our plans and leave God out?  This was the situation that King Asa was confronted with when he in the 36nd year of his leadership of Judah. 
  The united kingdom of Israel had been divided after Solomon died.  Ten of the tribes of Israel abandoned Rehaboam as the king and chose Jereboam to rule over them.  There was constant warfare between the two groups throughout their history.  Asa had been faithful to follow God while the king of the ten tribes, Baasha, had not.  Baasha was building a city called Ramah to keep King Asa from receiving supplies.  It posed a serious problem for Judah and needed to be resolved.  Asa decided to rely upon the king of Syria, Ben-hadad, to help him with the problem rather than ask God for help.  He took silver and gold from the treasury of the temple and his personal treasury to the king as a bribe and asked him to break the agreement he had made with Baasha and go to battle for him.  The king of Syria agreed to do it and Baasha had to stop building the city that was a threat to King Asa.  In the mind of Asa, he thought his problem was solved.  The city of Ramah was pillaged and the building materials were used to fortify other cities.  It all looked good to Asa but it was not how God wanted him to respond and a prophet Hanani, was sent to Asa to relay God’s message to him.
 2Ch 16:7  At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, "Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you.
2Ch 16:8  Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand.
2Ch 16:9  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars."
  2Ch 16:10  Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
2Ch 16:11  The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
2Ch 16:12  In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.
2Ch 16:13  And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.

 Asa’s Bad Decision
God had bigger plans for Asa and the nation of Judah.  He would have provided greater peace as Syria was an enemy who would come against Judah in the future.  God wanted to deliver Syria into the hands of Asa.  The agreement Asa made with Syria was not in agreement with God’s desires.  Asa was looking for a short term fix while God has a long term plan that would have been much better for the nation.  One has to wonder why Asa made this decision, especially after the track record of God’s incredible deliverance from the vast Ethiopian and Libyan armies.  Asa had his own experience as well as the experience of his father’s deliverance from their enemies to rely upon, yet he chose to act on his own. Perhaps Asa was weary of facing another battle and chose to let someone else fight for him.  Taking the precious metals from the temple was evidently a sufficient bribe to change the heart of the king of Syria to break an agreement he had with Baasha.  You have to wonder how faithful the king of Syria would be to Asa, if he was willing to break an agreement for the payment of silver and gold. 
In addition by making the agreement with Ben-hadad, the nation of Israel suffered many casualties when Syria fought against them.  When we make wrong decisions we can also affect the lives of many other people.  The loss of lives and bloodshed of the people of the Northern Kingdom resulted from Asa’s wrong decision.
  God’s Disappointment
Hanani came with the bad news of God’s disappointment with Asa’s actions.  God was disappointed in Asa’s lack of faith in his desire to intervene.  God would have helped Asa overcome his situation.  He was not unaware of what was happening and was giving Asa another opportunity to allow him to show himself strong and defeat the enemies of Judah.  God did not want Asa forming an alliance with Ben-hadad because he knew what was going to happen in the future when Syria would attack them.  God was going to deal with Syria to protect Judah but Asa blew it by forming the alliance.  It seemed like an easy solution to Asa but it would only create greater problems in the future.  Because of his foolish decision the future for Asa and Judah was not good, there would be turmoil instead of peace.
We all struggle at times with making decisions on our own, failing to consult God, making compromises that we should not make to be able to give us some relief from an impending crisis.  We rely on our limited wisdom rather than God’s to make short term decisions that have long term consequences.  We look to others to solve our problems and leave God out of the picture because we do not want to seek him or we do not want to wait upon him and trust him to show up.  Our impatience often drives us to make wrong decisions that will lead to regret. 
 The Vega
Have you ever bought something impulsively and then regretted it as it turned out to be a money pit?  I bought a car one time that I did not take the time to really seek God about buying it and did not get it checked out thoroughly.  I needed a car or at least I thought I did at the time and made a purchase too quickly.  I had to borrow the money to buy it and then after a couple of weeks had to borrow more money to fix the transmission that went bad.  Soon afterward it started burning oil and a black cloud spewed out from the exhaust.  It was a royal lemon that I should have never bought.  But my problem goes beyond the purchase of the car as I was in a situation that I should not have been in, in the first place.  I had been offered a job working with a company doing a wonderful thing, working with children, developing Bible clubs.  My motivation in taking the job was more to allow me to be near a girl I had met at my summer job working at a Bible camp than it was for the job itself.  I was thinking of the future relationship more than the job and made a decision to take the job rather than return to the university to finish my degree.  I was not in the right place and it became evident that my plans were not going to workout.  After working for about 3 months, I finally came to my senses and realized I was in the wrong place.  Had I truly sought God and been willing to follow what he would have told me, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble as well as finances.  I learned some hard lessons through the situation but most of all I realized how I relied on myself and did not seek God or wait upon him for his plans.  I had my mind made up as to what I wanted and had I been really seeking God I know I would have made a different decision.  Often we want God to give approval to our plans more than we want to seek him to find out what is his plan.  King Asa made the same mistake and he suffered for it.
 Asa’s Bad Response
Not only did Asa make a bad decision he also responded poorly after he was told that he would have future trouble.  He got mad at God and took out his anger on Hanani as well as some of the people.  His anger was displaced and he made others suffer who really were not responsible for anything that had happened.  We often respond in the same way when we are confronted.  We get mad at the person who pointed out our error and we respond by being mean toward other people.  Asa could have chosen to respond in a different way, like asking for forgiveness and repenting from his lack of consulting God, giving away treasures dedicated to the temple and making an alliance with a king of whom he should not have been involved.  Asa would not own up to his errors and chose to respond in anger.  God is merciful and always ready to forgive when our hearts are humbled and we truly repent of our sin.  He wants to have a restored relationship with us.  He takes no delight in seeing bad things happen to us because of our sin.  Asa could have experienced restoration and forgiveness but his pride and anger would not allow him to do it.  He carried this anger until his death.  Even when he had a problem with diseased feet he refused to seek God for healing a condition that God could have easily healed.  It seems that Asa had a 5 year long pity party.  His pride got in the way and he could not bring himself to the point of repentance.  How foolish it is to hold a grudge against God.  What benefit was there in doing so for Asa?
When we mess up we need to fess up immediately.  God was not Asa’s problem, Asa was his own problem. He forgot his history of God’s faithfulness to him and God’s desire to help him.  God wanted to show himself strong but Asa did not give him the opportunity.  The word “strong” means to “fasten upon”.  The image is that God is looking for someone whose heart is made ready for him, one who is looking to him so he can fasten himself to him.  It is almost like someone on a search and rescue mission who is looking for someone in trouble who is reaching out for help.  When the rescuer sees him, he sets his eyes upon him and reaches out to fasten himself to him to pull him out of the problem.  Asa had a problem but he was not reaching out to God to invite his help.  
Whatever situation the enemy puts in our way or we create by our own error, we have to remember that God is always for us.  God is there to rescue and help us get the victory but we must be willing to seek him and invite him into our situation.  If we respond in our own wisdom or in the flesh we will only create a worse situation with consequences that we will not want to face.  God is ready, willing, and able to come to our rescue.  He wants us to call upon him.
  God will rescue us
Psa_22:8  "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
Psa_91:15  When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
Isa_31:5  Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it."
  Dan_3:29  Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way."
2Ti_4:18  The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

2Pe_2:9  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
Whatever situation we face our first response must be to go to God and seek him for help. We can approach him with confidence knowing that he is in control and he is good.  He will come to rescue us.
 Teton Climbing Experience
After graduation from high school, I went to Wyoming to climb the Gran Teton Mountain.  It was my first mountain and I was excited to be able to do it.  I spend some time learning how to rappel before the trip but that was it. We climbed the first day and came to a patch of snow where we learned how to “glaciade” which involves sliding down and then using a pick axe to stop.  It was a lot of fun and not dangerous in the situation we were at.  We summited the mountain the next day and began our descent.  Somehow I got separated from the group and I came upon a huge ice field.  I decided that I could save a lot of time by sliding down the ice field to the path below.  Not a good idea when you do not have a pick axe to stop you.  I decided that I could straddle the side of the ice field and use my leg on the outside to act as a brake so I could control my speed.  It sounded like a good plan to me but I quickly found out it would not work.  I sat down and straddled the edge and began sliding down.  Within a few feet I veered away from the edge and found myself sliding down the ice field headed toward the bottom where huge rocks were waiting to receive me.  I tried to dig my heels and hands into the ice to slow but it was to no avail.  I continued to slide and picked up speed as I approached the bottom.  I knew I was in deep trouble and I put my legs in front of me and braced myself for the collision.  As I got close to the bottom I remember calling out to God, “God save me!!!”  I slammed into a rock that was probably 3-4 feet tall with my legs extended straight in front.  Somehow I hit the rock and was catapulted in the air, doing a complete somersault over it and then landed in an open area on my back. Fortunately, I had my backpack on and it absorbed all the impact.  My momentum rolled me forward and I hit my knee on a rock and got a little cut.  I stood up, shaking violently as I realized what had just happened and how God had rescued me from being seriously injured.  It was a very bad decision on my part to slide down the ice field and had someone else been with me to advise me not to do it or had I consulted God, I would have saved myself from the near death experience.  God showed up when I called upon him and he rescued me.  I knew that he had something more for my life and that became a reality a couple of months later.
  Call, Trust, Obey
We have to call upon God but we also must trust him to move and we must be willing to obey what he asks us to do.  A story is told of a man who fell off a cliff and on his way down he grabbed on to a small tree growing out of the side.  He was suspended in the air and was calling out for help.  God heard his call and responded by telling the man, “This is God, let go of the branch”.  The man called out again for help and God replied with the same answer.  He called out a third time for help and again God told him to let go of the branch.  Finally in desperation the man called out, “Is there anyone else who can help me!”  What the man did not know was that he was only a few feet above a shelf that had he let go of the branch he would have safely landed on it.  Often we do not see what God can see and we have to trust him to know what we need to do and be willing to obey him whether it seems logical or not.
Brooke Donnelly shared her testimony on the 700 Club of God rescuing her from a life of lesbianism.  She had been abused sexually as a child and had been raised in a Christian home.  The abuse she suffered was not from her family but from classmates and this caused great anger and rebellion to dominate her life.  She entered into a lesbian relationship with a witch and moved to Hollywood seeking fame and fortune.
One day, Brooke was uncomfortable about going out to a particular nightclub with her girlfriend.
“She said, ‘Well, let’s just sit on the fence about it.’  The only time I’d ever heard ‘sit on the fence’ was in church. You don’t sit on the fence. You’re either hot or you’re cold. But you’re not lukewarm. When those words came out of her mouth, I just felt this quickening within me like all of a sudden it felt like something entered the room.  My heart started pounding. I said, ‘Do you feel that?’ And she’s like, ‘No, I don’t feel anything.’  I’m like, ‘You don’t feel it?’  She’s like, ‘You don’t actually think there’s such a thing as a devil, do you?’  At that point, I knew I could not trust her anymore.”
Brooke called out to Jesus, and her girlfriend jumped up and left.
"I was like, ‘Okay God, okay, I don’t know what You want me to do, but I’m asking You to help me.’  As soon as I prayed that, another presence came into my apartment and this was just like this urgency like, ‘C’mon! C’mon! Let’s go! Let’s go!’”
She left her apartment and started walking.  She says she felt like the Lord was guiding her steps. 
“I heard the Lord. He said, ‘Brooke, fear not, for I am the Lord your God.’  He said. ‘Even though you may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you shall not fear evil. For My rod and My staff, they will comfort you.’  There was this breeze that passed by.  I knew I was dealing with the Lord. Then I heard in my heart, ‘Love is the most powerful source in the universe.’  I just started crying, and I said, 'Okay, God, love is the most powerful source in the universe. What about my lover?' And he said, ‘No!’  I just heard a really loud ‘no’. When I heard that ‘no’, God opened my deceptive mind for a moment in time to be able to have clear thinking and to make a choice.  He gave me a choice, ‘It’s either Me or her. Who’s it going to be?’”
She knew she had to make a decision.
“I felt like there was a man with a knife standing behind me.  I was terrified. I tried to reach behind me and see if someone was really standing behind me. Nobody was standing behind me.  I felt like I was going crazy. I knew I had to make this choice. And when I chose Jesus, the presence behind me left.”
Brooke made her choice, but now she had to take action.
“I came back to my apartment, and my girlfriend was standing at our altar that we had. I didn’t know what to do next. But when I saw her, I did not want her. God met me right where I was. He helped me right in that decision. When I chose with all of my heart to follow Jesus, God changed my heart. I was just broken. I had nothing to show for 26 years of my life except a broken heart.  I had Jesus. I had made a decision for Jesus.”
Brooke moved back to her parents’ house.  She needed to heal.
“I didn’t want to live.  I laid on my bed waiting to die.  I didn’t have my right mind, I couldn’t think clearly.”
After six months at home, Brooke went forward for prayer at a women’s Bible study.
“I felt like the woman who reached out to grab Jesus’ garment, and I just felt like I was grabbing it and saying, ‘I’m not letting go until You help me. You’ve gotta help me!’ So I believe that Jesus delivered me that day from witchcraft or from demonic spirit or whatever I had opened myself up to.  It left.”
It has been a long journey, but the pain Brooke held since childhood has been replaced by the love of God.
“What the Lord did was He took a broken heart and He put it back together with Himself entwined now in my heart. He’s filled all those broken places inside of me with Himself.  I was able to emotionally heal. I was able to go through the memories of what had taken place and face those memories with Jesus this time forgive each one that did this to me. I believe that it’s through forgiveness that I’ve been set free.”
God is faithful to rescue when we call upon him but we must also be willing to do what he asks us to do.  Had Brooke not been obedient to what God was asking her to do she would not have been set free.  We will all face hardships in this life, there will be tests and trials that we will experience.  We are not exempt but we do have a God who will rescue us when we call upon him and obey what he asks us to do.
King Asa had seen many moves of God yet at the end of many years of faithful service he made bad decisions that resulted in the final years of misery.  His end could have been very different.  Being mad at God only produces greater problems in our lives.  He gets blamed for many things that are not his fault and people become bitter toward him because they do not really know him and trust him to be working for their good.
 Maybe you are here tonight and you are facing some challenges and really need to call upon God to rescue you.  Maybe you have responded incorrectly and acted in your flesh to resolve a situation and you need to seek forgiveness so your relationship can be restored with God or another person you have offended.  Or perhaps you know someone who is facing a challenge and needs God’s intervention and you want to stand in the gap for them through your prayers. 

One young girl I want to pray for is one we have met on the streets whose name is Norma.  She needs to be rescued.  She is 18, pregnant, homeless and both parents were killed in a car accident.  She needs to be rescued and placed in a loving environment where she can experience healing and provision for her and her baby.  Let’s spend some time praying for ourselves and others who need God to intervene in their lives.