Relying on our own strength

“At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: ‘Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.’” 2 Chronicles 16:7
Over and over through the Old Testament we see examples of people who realised they did not have strength on their own, and saw miraculous things happen because they relied on God. We also have examples of people who could have relied on God to help them, but instead relied on their own strength – and failed because of it. In today’s verse we see king Asa falling into this trap. Asa was one of the godly kings of Judah, reforming the nation’s worship by calling an assembly of the people and removing the idols and high places from the land. However, when it came to facing Baasha king of Israel, who was moving to besiege some of Judah’s cities, Asa turned to Ben-Hadad the king of Aram for help, rather than turning to the Lord. He took silver and gold from the temple treasuries and sent them to Ben-Hadad to seal the agreement. But God had had better plans. He knew that the alliance would not last, and that Asa would one day be facing the king of Aram in battle.
We can easily be tempted to do the same thing. While we might not be setting strategies in war, we are facing financial pressures, time pressures, etc. When faced with the choice between taking the easy way out, and doing the right and honest thing... we know what we should be doing, but is it what we do? Are you relying on the Lord, or relying on your own strength? The lesson from today’s verse is that if we will rely on God today, He will help us out when we need Him tomorrow as well.