Why not give God a chance?

It had been a challenging week for me. I felt weary and drained. It had been one of those teaching moments. Once again God showed up and proved His faithfulness. Just like He does every time. 

So why do I give in to doubt and fear? Do I forget so soon? 

Ironically, in the middle of this trial, God showed me a powerful example in His Word. He seems to always point to something in His Word that is relevant to me. He’s good at that. 

When the Ethiopians great army came against Judah, King Asa immediately cried out to the Lord. I so love his prayer in 2 Chronicles 16:

“There is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us Lord our God for we rely on You and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” 

Don’t you just love his prayer? God responded powerfully to his sincere prayer and thoroughly defeated the mighty Ethiopians. 

Now look ahead ten years at another incident:

King Baasha of Israel threatened Asa. Not exactly catastrophic like the Ethiopian invasion, but still alarming. The situation could percolate into trouble for the King and his people. 

So did he seek the Lord again? Unfortunately no. Instead of relying on God, he “fixed” the problem himself. He bribed the King of Syria to break their covenant with Israel and help him. The King of Syria was only too happy to comply. 

Ben-hadad the king of Syria attacked Israel in the North and conquered some of Israel’s cities. So did the bribe work? In a manner of speaking yes, King Baasha backed down and was not a threat anymore. 

This is what happens sometimes when these not so catastrophic issues pop up. I feel threatened and anxious about the possible troubles that may arise.  The Bible calls them “False imaginations”. 

Instead of seeking God’s face and relying on Him, perhaps I can “fix” the problem. You know, “help” God. Funny how that never turns out good. It sure didn’t work for King Asa. The Syrians proved to be an annoyance in the years to come. 

God sent the Prophet Hanani to speak to Asa. “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. Were not the Ethiopians a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He gave them into your hand. 

For the eyes of the Lord run and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him. 2 Chronicles 16:7-9

In the middle of my challenging week, my husband asked the question, “Why don’t we give God a chance? Let’s pray about this situation. I don’t think we should give up on this.” 

Now don’t get me wrong, I had been praying. But this situation was different. So would it be harder for God? Silly I know. But I can be pretty dense sometimes. 

My husband’s wise words were like a breath of fresh air. We prayed and sought God to intervene. Well...guess what? The Lord showed us the way and He truly intervened on our behalf. No surprise right?

Will we give God an opportunity to intervene?

Will we rely on Him, or just try to work it out in our own strength? 

What great miracles do we miss out on because we refuse to rely on Him? 

I urge you today not to give up on God. He’s looking for someone to believe so He can show Himself strong in their life. Why not be that person?


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