The background:
In 2 Chronical 14:11 King Asa was up against an Ethiopian army with 1 million men and 300 chariots. He was out numbered 2:1. Any onlooker would have assumed he was facing a crushing defeat. Yet, he knew better.
Vs 11 reads "And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, "LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!"
Long story short? Against all obvious earthly odds, Asa, and God, won. By a landslide.
Fast forward a short time, and in 1 Chronicles 16 we find Asa facing a much smaller political opponent - a much more manageable foe. And this time? This time, instead of calling on God, Asa makes a treaty with another king. They work together, they handle the issue, and all is well.
......except in vs.7 we read "Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand."
Basically, Asa had called on God when he was desperate. When he had no other options. When he knew there was no earthly force to save him.
But when he wasn't overwhelmed? When he was still inside his comfort zone and had earthly options? He completely forgot to call upon the same God who had saved him before.
Josh made some really good points about this in his sermon. Seriously, listen to it!
But here's what I kept thinking: Oh man. We do that. *I* do that. Sometimes in this life I get so busy "handling it" that I forget to stop and ask God for help. Sometimes I search out all the earthly options before I remeber I have much more powerful heavenly options. Sometimes I get caught up in me, running in auto pilot, treading water, pushing through that I forget there is a much, MUCH better way.
I don't have to be like King Asa.
I don't have to wait until I am in an incredibly overwhelming, scary, all-earthly-options-exhausted situation to ask God for help. On the contrary, I should be calling on Him all the time.
Satan lays traps. And one I fall into sometimes is forgetting how much God cares about the "little" daily stuff too.
So, here are some specific prayers I'm praying to help myself combat this:
"Please help me have patience with _______ today". (Because let's face it, I need all the patience help I can get).
"Please help me figure out what (student) needs from me today to help them be at peace/feel success." (Guys, I have a great support team at school who is always helping me- but I could use Gods help, too).
"Please help me have the energy to do what I need to do today and be the Christian, mom, and teacher I need to be." (Lack of sleep and energy are some of my biggest, most consistent battles. I used to think it was silly to pray for sleep and energy. Now I know it's not.)
I know your specific prayers, your daily needs, your small issues that you "could push through and handle yourself" look a bit different from mine .... But the fact that God cares about them? That's the same.
We don't have to wait til the little things compound into giant issues to ask for help. God wants us to acknowledge our need for Him all the time so he can be with us all the time.
Lean into Him. He wants to be there for you.
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