Seek the Lord

Asa, King of Judah

2 Chronicles 14

vs 4) ... seek the LORD...

So many times in the bible does it say to seek the LORD. But that's because it's so important.

I believe God created the world and that he created us. He has an awesome plan for our lives. We can only know how to live out his plan by continually seeking God. When we seek God, we find out a bit more about his plan and just how great he is. Seeking God and what he wants and seeking him in times of trouble, should become a common thing.

vs 7) ... because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought him and he has given us rest on everyside."

Here, Judah wanted to rebuild some cities that had been knocked down. But it's a bit hard to do when you keep getting caught in wars. So they sought the LORD and asked what he wanted. And God gave them rest. Remember, God's in control. He has the power to do that.

When Judah had finished building, a man marched out against him with a vast army. Once again, Judah had found themselves outnumbered. I love this prayer below because it shows a mighty king, humbling himself before God, giving him all the control.

vs11) Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is none like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we RELY on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you."

And as you can see, God fought for them and they won.

Seek God in every situation. Stop every now and again and see what God wants. Stop and think about what he's doing in your life and what he's done. He's got an awesome plan. Trust.

Have faith: God's in Control

Abijah, King of Judah

2 Chronicles 13

In the old testemant, there were often many wars as kings wanted to take over more and more land. The story I read about here is when Abijah is king of Judah. Jeroboam is king of Israel, Judah's rivalry, and wants to fight them.

Check out the stats. Israel = 800 000 able fighting men. Judah, 400 000 men. Looking at those numbers, itdoesn't seem like Judah has a chance. But wait, there's more. : )

Jeroboam had forsaken God and turned to other gods. But listen to what Abijah says in vs 10 in response to Jeroboam. "As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him." He then goes on in verse 11 to say, "... We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God."

So, looking at the stats again. Israel, 800 000 men. Judah, 400 000 men AND God.

Clearly, they were pretty outnumbered but they trusted God. They trusted God would help them and even warned Jeroboam. Check it out in verse 12.
" God is with us; he is our leader... do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

But, of course, Jeroboam didn't listen. He thought he had the better end of the bargain. They started to attack from both the front and the back so that Judah was surrounded.

Judah, helpless as anything, called out to God.

(vs 16) "The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands."
(vs 18) "... the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers."

God is in control of absolutely everything. He's stronger than anything. You may think that, yeah, Judah had reason to be concerned because they were so many people. But wouldn't you think that our God's stronger than 800 000 people HE created?!

Everyday, this world is chucking more scary things and more terror at us. You only need to look at the news to find out. But God is so much bigger than all that. We just need to trust him and call out. He'll help us.