• by Sharon Amali
• April 27, 2023

King Asa’s heart was loyal all his days (15:17). When Asa started out, he was a baby, so to speak. His hero was His Father (we shall address God as Father here). Father God was better than Superman! Asa felt safe with his Father around and felt nothing could touch him! Like most children, Asa’s heart was set on pleasing the Father – he loved those nods of approval. So he removed the altars of foreign gods that had made his Father unhappy (14:2-5). Asa had mighty confidence in God. We see that when trouble raised its head in 14:9, Asa cried out to God for help. And God helped Asa. In everything, he trusted God.

When trouble returns almost 26 years later, I think Asa is loyal still. But it is curious that this time he calls another for help (16:3). Has Asa lost confidence in his hero Father? Could this be the case of a child coming of age? The scenario goes something like,
“God, you know I love you and you are strong and I remember that last time you did wonders, but…ahh… I don’t think you are strong enough for this situation so just sit this one out. I’ll call you when the other jobs come up. For now let Ben-Hadad do what he does best. You see, if I give him a higher pay than Israel has given him, he will be a real good asset to me. I won’t have to worry about Israel. They think they can outsmart me!”

Asa’s heart is loyal like many of ours are. Only problem is, he puts God in a box just like we do. We keep Him wrapped and stored away somewhere till the time we think it’s appropriate to release Him to come deal with this or that. And then we put Him safely away when we think we have a good grasp of how to handle the situation. When we think the situation is too big for God – such times we step in ourselves to save the situation or we enlist the help of a very “capable” person.

In whom have you put your trust? Who are you expecting to help you? Are you asking God to work through a specific person / channel to bless you or are you letting Him decide on whom He’s going to work through?

We expect God to jump when we say, “Jump!” and to sit when we say, “Sit!” We go out praying for people and command God to come show off His glory for our sakes. And if we see no “glory” when we expect to see it right then and there, we start questioning God’s love and ability.

God is not some item who belongs in a box!  

See, Asa is truly loyal, but then he starts to make God too small and that’s the beginning of Asa’s troubles. To Asa, God belongs in a box. God shouldn’t be in everything. Health issues shouldn’t be taken to God. Or military issues, or relationship issues, or… you get the point. Asa has safely kept God locked away. Asa even gets angry with the seer for telling him words that have come from “the Person who belongs to Asa’s magic box” (16:7-10). Asa wonders what nerve they’ve got! Military issues should be left to Generals! So Asa throws the prophet into prison for meddling in issues beyond his pay grade. 

When Asa is deathly ill, Asa assumes that if the physicians can’t heal him, surely God can’t – so Asa doesn’t ask God for help but sticks to ‘his’ physicians till death does them part. 

Who do you think should pay you, or help you? Do you think that God is only able to work in certain things and not others? Is your God too small to be kept in a box from which you occasionally take Him out just to show off to those watching?  

Is God in the right place in your life or is He in a magic box somewhere?