What About God?

 
Quick! Name the first person you would go to when you need to talk about your day. What about when you've got the flu? Or when your car breaks down? Typical answers are: best friend, doctor, mechanic. These are not necessarily wrong answers, but what about God? Do we seek His counsel first, or is He the runner-up?

 For this topic, I want to compare two kings in the Old Testament; King Asa (2 Chronicles 16) and King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). 

 "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.
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.”" (2 Chronicles 16:7, 9)

 In 2 Chronicles 16, King Asa has a conflict with the king of Israel, and so he pays the king of Syria (with money from the temple and his own house) to break his covenant with the king of Israel and back him up instead. And for a time, it worked. But because Asa did not seek the Lord, and instead relied on his own cunning and human kings, he is told by a messenger of the Lord that he will always be at war. Even later in life, when king Asa has a severe disease in his feet, scripture tells us that "he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians" (2 Chron. 16: 12).

 In contrast, Asa's son Jehoshaphat, walked in the ways of king David and "his heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord" (2 Chron. 17:6). King Jehoshaphat made it a pattern in his life to seek the Lord before he acted (2 Chron. 18:4, 31). In 2 Chronicles 20, a mass of armies came up against him in battle, and we can clearly see his resolve to seek the Lord first and foremost.

 "Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord." (2 Chronicles 20:3-4)

 He opens his prayer by ascribing glory to God (v. 6), and then, in complete humility and dependence, prays, "For we are powerless....We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you" (2 Chron. 20:12). And because he humbled himself to seek the Lord before he did anything else, the Lord fights for them and delivers their enemies into their hands without them even having to lift a finger (2 Chron. 20:15-17).

 The contrast between Asa and Jehoshaphat is stark and serves as a reminder for us. We need to remember to seek the Lord first in all that we do, even before we seek out practical help from man. How often do we turn to man's accepted way of fixing things without asking God for help? How often do we immediately jump in with both feet and try to take matters into our own hands? Like calling the doctor when we are sick, or a plumber when we have a pipe problem, or texting our spouse or a friend when we have a bad day. I'm not saying those are bad resources (in fact, I believe their skills and gifts are God-given for the benefit of others). But do we stop to pray first and then pick up the phone? Far too often we seek the help of man without even consulting God -- or we ask Him as an afterthought once we think we have it under control or we already have a plan in place. But His Word says to come to Him first. 

 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and [then] all these things will be added to you." (Matt. 6:33, emphasis added) 

 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and [then] He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4, emphasis added)

 "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and [then] He will make straight your paths." (Prov. 3:6, emphasis added)

 Let us offer our prayers to Him before all else. He is the One in heaven, ruling over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in whose hand is power and might surpassing all others so that none can stay His hand. If we seek Him before all else, we will have no lack, for those who seek the Lord lack no good thing (Ps. 34:10).

 Lord, please help me to seek You first and acknowledge my need to You before I turn to man, or to modern conventions and conveniences. Help me to do this in all things; from the decisions I need to make, to times of trouble or crisis, or even when I just feel sad and lonely. Thank You that You are always there when we call.

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