He went out to meet Asa and said to him, 'Listen to me, Asa and all
Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you
seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will
forsake you.'" - 2 Chronicles 15:2
Asa was the king of Judah from 912-872 B.C. He reigned for 41 years and
was known as a good king who served the Lord with great zeal. He
reformed many things. He broke down idol worship to foreign gods; he
put away male prostitutes and even removed his own mother from being
queen because she worshiped an idol. The Scriptures say that as long as
he sought the Lord, the Lord prospered his reign.
However, Asa was not totally faithful in his calling. There came a time in his life when he made a decision to no longer trust in
the God of Israel. He lost his confidence in God as his deliverer. The
prophet Hanani came to Asa to inform him that God's blessing was no
longer on his life because of an ungodly alliance he had made.
Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, He
delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range
throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully
committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you
will be at war (2 Chronicles 16:8-9).
