Trying to control your own life is exhausting. With our mouths, we say that we trust God, but in reality, we get overwhelmed trying to fix and control things ourselves. Our trust in God becomes nothing but a statement we feel we should say rather than what we are actually living out. Distrust settles in. Self-reliance becomes our go-to. And then we wonder why we feel more and more exhausted.
If you can relate to these confessions, there are specific examples of this in 2 Chronicles14 and 15, God had given Asa rest on every side because of his dependence on the Kord. God even gave Asa victory in the face of a massive army. Yet in Chapter 16, when king Asa finds himself in a border conflict with Ki;g Baasha of Israel, Ase has a sudden and surprising shift in behavior.
Instead of crying out to God as he has before, Asa immediately turns to his own means of addressing the situation, misusing the treasures of the temple and placing his hope in an unwise military alliance. The ultimate result? Unrest for Asa and his people. This King, whose faith meant victory in the past, invited battles into his future because he refuses to trust God in the present. Just like Asa, our past declaration of faith are no guarantee that we will rely on God in the future.
When life gets hard, we can sometimes wonder if God is blind to all we’re facing. But there’s a reminder tucked into the words the prophet Hanani speaks in verse 9: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”
We serve a God who sees. He is continually aware of every detail of our lives. And not only is God aware, but He’s also looking to strengthen individuals who are willing to wholeheartedly place their trust in Him.
Are there areas where we’re inviting not only exhaustion but possibly destruction because we’re refusing to rely on God? Do our frantic and controlling actions fail to match our faith-filled declarations? Let’s not just declare we have faith. Let’s live our load that we believe God is good, faithful and trustworthy.
He sees, He knows, He cares. And we an rest in that in that today.
2 Chronicles 16: 1-9
From Pity to Praise 