Trust in God. The alternative doesn't work.

I have a lot of scripture here that and will let it speak for itself. These verses come from 2 chronicles. A little background. King David was a man who was a man after Gods own heart. His son Solomon was also successful. Solomons son Rahaboam lost the nation of israel but kept Judah. Israel fell into Idolatry, and all the priests of the true God fled to Judah. Now Judah was not without blame as they had alters to idols in their land as well. Now lets take a look at some scripture.


[13 :1] In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. [2 ] He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. [3 ] Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. [4 ] Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! [5 ] Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? [6 ] Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, [7 ] and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.
(2 Chronicles 13:1-7 ESV


] “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. [9 ] Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods. [10 ] But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. [11 ] They offer to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him. [12 ] Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”
(2 Chronicles 13:8-12 ESV

] “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. [9 ] Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods. [10 ] But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. [11 ] They offer to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him. [12 ] Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”
(2 Chronicles 13:8-12 ESV

[21 ] But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. [22 ] The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
(2 Chronicles 13:21-22 ESV)

So we have gathered here that trusting in God and leaning on him gives a nation, peace, strength, honor, and prosperity. Not to mention being on the side of right. All this is accomplished even when the odds are not in your favor from a human perspective.

Asa

[14 :1] Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. [2 ] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. [3 ] He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim [4 ] and commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. [5 ] He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. [6 ] He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the LORD gave him peace. [7 ] And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered.
(2 Chronicles 14:1-7 ESV)

Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. [10 ] And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. [11 ] And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O 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.” [12 ] So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. [13 ] Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil. [14 ] And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. [15 ] And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
(2 Chronicles 14:9-15 ESV)

Again even when the odds are against you from a human perspective God can and will deliver you.

[15 :1] The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, [2 ] and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. [3 ] For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, [4 ] but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. [5 ] In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. [6 ] They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. [7 ] But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
(2 Chronicles 15:1-7 ESV)

Now this is very interesting. "If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you." Now where it says, "God troubled them with every sort of distress." would be considered by E.W. Bullinger to be the hebrew idiom of permission. Essentially to allow the enemy of Israel to defeat them because they turned their back on God. According to this idiom this is to say that God allowed it. This is more defined in Bullingers book, "Figures of Speech." You can decide for yourself if this interpretation is correct.

As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the LORD. [9 ] And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. [10 ] They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. [11 ] They sacrificed to the LORD on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. [12 ] And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, [13 ] but that whoever would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. [14 ] They swore an oath to the LORD with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. [15 ] And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the LORD gave them rest all around.
[16 ] Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. [17 ] But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. [18 ] And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. [19 ] And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
(2 Chronicles 15:8-19 ESV

Asa responded and peace, health and prosperity followed when he put God first.

16 :1] In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. [2 ] Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the LORD and the king's house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, [3 ] “There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” [4 ] And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. [5 ] And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. [6 ] Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
(2 Chronicles 16:1-6 ESV

So God delivered Asa when he was badly outnumbered. God gave Asa 30 plus years without war for seeking God and putting him first. So it makes all the sense in the world that Asa would look Benhadad and give him the wealth from "the house of the Lord" because he was scared of his enemy. What?:O Asa knew better. He wasn't leaning on the Lord but through his own understanding. He sought out worldly help instead of help from God. The record doesn't say Asa looked to God first. No, he plundered the house of the Lord and gave the riches of it to Benhadad for "safety" !!! But that's not what he got is it? Read on.

[7 ] 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. [8 ] Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand. [9 ] 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.” [10 ] Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
(2 Chronicles 16:7-10 ESV)

11 ] The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. [12 ] In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. [13 ] And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign. [14 ] They buried him in the tomb that he had cut for himself in the city of David. They laid him on a bier that had been filled with various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art, and they made a very great fire in his honor.
(2 Chronicles 16:11-14 ESV)

Even in death Asa did not look to the Lord. He looked to physicians. No problem with seeing a doctor but remember all healing comes from God first. Your body is designed to heal itself. So all a doctor can do is assist your own body to heal itself. Had God not designed the body to heal it wouldn't do so no matter how good a physician is. Therefore, all healing comes from God. Asa became cruel, turned his back on the God who delivered him. This is an important lesson to all of us. Your not going to have an army to contend with during our day (well not yet). However, do you trust in worldly systems like IRA's, 401k's, your job, your brothers uncle, whatever, do you see that as your security FIRST????? If you do I promise you they will fail you. What Asa went through is not uncommon today. Yes the circumstances have changed but the principle remains intact. What so ever you put before God is an idol, period. And yes we all have them, or have had them. If you seek safety from anything above God that is putting your faith into that IDOL, and it will disappoint you. It's not that saving money, or planning to take care of your family is wrong. It only becomes wrong when you trust it more than God. This can be very subtle. I have to admit I've had to do a check up from the neck up more than once. And yes, I will probably have to do it again in the future.