2 Chronicles 16:1-6: a reflection

1In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the LORD’s house and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, 3“Let there be a treaty between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.” 4Ben Hadad listened to King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and let his work cease. 6Then Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones and timber of Ramah, with which Baasha had built; and he built Geba and Mizpah with them.

Earlier in his reign, King Asa had faced an overwhelming enemy army and relied wholly on God, who gave him a great victory. But now, years later, facing a lesser threat, Asa does something different: he takes the treasures of the temple and buys an alliance with a foreign king, relying on a worldly maneuver rather than on God. The Asa who once trusted God against impossible odds now, older, relies on his own scheming. It is a sad regression from his earlier faith.

Notice the regression in Asa. Earlier, facing a far greater threat, he had relied wholly on God and been delivered; his faith then was strong. But now, facing a lesser threat, he does not rely on God, but on a worldly alliance bought with the temple's treasures. His faith had regressed; the man who once trusted God against impossible odds now trusts his own scheming against a lesser one. Past faith did not guarantee present faith; Asa slipped back into self-reliance.

That regression is a sobering possibility, for we too can slip back from earlier faith into self-reliance. We may have trusted God in the past, even against great odds, and known his faithfulness; and yet we can slip back, later, into relying on our own schemes and resources rather than on God. Past faith does not guarantee present faith; we can regress, as Asa regressed. Do not presume that because you trusted God in the past, you will not slip back into self-reliance; Asa, who once trusted God against impossible odds, later relied on his own scheming. Guard against the regression that slips from faith back into self-reliance. Keep trusting God, afresh, in each new threat and need, rather than presuming on past faith while slipping into present self-reliance. The Asa who once trusted God slipped back; do not let your own earlier faith give way, in time, to a self-reliance that forgets to trust God, but keep relying on him, afresh, as you once did, rather than regressing, as Asa did, from faith into scheming.

Lord, earlier in his reign King Asa faced an overwhelming enemy and relied wholly on you, who gave him a great victory; but now, years later, facing a lesser threat, he took the temple treasures and bought an alliance with a foreign king, relying on a worldly maneuver rather than on you. The Asa who once trusted you against impossible odds now, older, relied on his own scheming; a sad regression from his earlier faith. Show me that regression. His faith had regressed; the man who once trusted you against impossible odds now trusted his own scheming against a lesser threat. Past faith did not guarantee present faith. That is a sobering possibility, for I too can slip back from earlier faith into self-reliance. I may have trusted you in the past, even against great odds, and known your faithfulness; and yet I can slip back, later, into relying on my own schemes and resources rather than on you. Keep me from presuming that because I trusted you in the past, I will not slip back into self-reliance; Asa, who once trusted you, later relied on his own scheming. Guard me against the regression that slips from faith back into self-reliance. Help me keep trusting you, afresh, in each new threat and need, Lord, rather than presuming on past faith while slipping into present self-reliance. Keep me from regressing, as Asa did, from faith into scheming.