2 Chronicles 15:1-19
15:1 A man named Azariah was filled with the Spirit of God to deliver a message to Asa and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The name meaning of Azariah is "Jehovah (God) has helped." Indeed, the message was given by God in effort to help His people, even those of us living today.
15:2 “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."
Foremost, we must be attentive to the philosophy and instruction (word) of God. The first thing Azariah said to the congregation of king and people is listen. We cannot make any progress in life or character without be receptive to God's teaching, without adopting His lifestyle as our own. A lifestyle of humility and courage, compassion and justice.
Azariah confirmed the nature of God's relationship with us: as long as we are with Him, He is with us. The tribes of Israel and Judah often found themselves without God, but only because they walked away from Him. God never abandons us. His love and presence is steadfast. If it becomes difficult to hear Him, perceive Him, or feel His presence, it is because we are not as near to Him as we should be.
Should we find ourselves too far from Him, God promises He will always make Himself known. When we seek to discover His presence and His truths, we find Him. We find Him in the details, in the emotions, in the general unfolding of our day and life. We cannot happen upon a deep and intimate relationship with God (or anyone)! Relationships require space and time and discovery and honesty and love. Relationships are developed and tested and strengthened. To seek to have such a relationship with Him is to put in tremendous and consistent effort.
The only time we receive radio-silence from God is when we abandon His principles and live for the values of the world instead. Greed, selfishness, anger, impatience, unkindness, and evil all separate us from Him. I think we often make the mistake of thinking that only unspeakable greed and extreme unkindness are behaviors which forsake God. But our small actions, and small words in small moments build up into an entire lifetime. How we speak to people, what we put our effort into on a daily basis, how hard we work (or do not work) to be patient and selfless all adds up into a lifetime.
15:3-6 "For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity."
Azariah speaks bluntly: the tribes have been away from God. Idol worship seeped into their lifestyle and corrupted it. No Godly-law no Godly-order and thus only: chaos. There was no peace, not in home or nation. The tempestuous conditions of their lives were consequences of their choices but were wielded constructively by God as discipline to correct them. Not to punish them, to correct them. To lead them back home.
The practice of idol worship has not gone away. Today our idols look different but are based in the same greed. So many of us value celebrity and wealth, power and position. It is not wrong to be ambitious. It is not wrong to want to be great; but what we are ambitious for determines the nature of our character. How helpful and constructive we are for others' benefit determines how great we are, Luke 9:48.
15:7 "But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
Therefore we are charged and encouraged by God to be constructive. Faith without works is dead, James 2:14-28. Faith without works is dead, character without compassion is worse than dead; it is irrelevant at best and destructive at worst. God wants us to understand that it is a lie to say that we love Him if we do not join Him in His work. If we do not find His work important, His philosophy true, how can we love Him? If we believe such things, we do not even know Him.
What is God's work? These are only a few examples: Building supportive friendships and empathetic families. Healing hurts and assuaging tensions. Muting selfish desire and turning up the volume on selfless endeavors for justice in the world. Being attentive and communicative in disagreements. Having the patience to be wise and kind. Feeding the poor, the poor in society and the poor in spirit. There are so many opportunities to have strong hands and work for God. And all of that work is seen by Him, Matthew 25:25-40.
Your life is an instrument, a hand in the midst of incredible and ample opportunity to work justice and compassion into the world. Hopefully the prospect of being a fellow-worker with God is enough incentive to join Him in this work, 1 Corinthians 3:9. We are rewarded for compassionate lifestyles that are genuine, rather than done for reward. Those who live selfishly or lethargically are also seen by God, Matthew 25:41-46.
15:8 Azariah's message from God was enough to motivate Asa to remove the false idols from the land of Judah. The message was enough to convince Asa of it importance of ridding the nation of things which distracted from God's philosophy. Asa replaced those false idols with God.
From Asa we can learn to remove the idols in our own lives and hearts. In those spaces, place God. With the new space and time, insert His word and His principles. The goodness of God will transform us and our lives for the (so much) better.
15:9-11 Asa and the people of Judah gathered together to worship God. Just as individuals connected with God are a beautiful, powerful thing, a nation of people connected with God is beautiful and powerful. They came together to celebrate Him in gratitude and servitude and joy. Worship is such a beneficial element to our faith and life: through it our proximity to God is at its nearest point.
15:12-14 The people of Judah made a commitment, a new covenant, with God to seek Him with all their heart and with all their soul. How devoted are you to your relationship with God? How often do you talk to Him? How fully do you trust Him? How deeply do you love Him? How excited are you to hear what He has to say? How astonished are you by His creation, ability and nature?
15:15 When we devote our whole heart to God, we give Him our self and need and desire to do what He wills with them, to fill them as He (who knows best) sees fit. When we devote our whole soul to God, we allow Him to choose our purpose and wield our potential. Enter into a covenant with God where you give Him your whole heart and whole soul and He gives you His.
Judah sought Him and "He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around." There is no more blessed outcome than the one we reach only through and with and by God.
15:16-18 Asa was bold enough even to remove corrupt but powerful people from their positions of power and influence. Asa was imperfect but was loyal to God his entire life. He was brave for his faith because he believed that God's way was the best for himself, his nation and his world. The nature of Asa's faith brought subsequent, God-sustained peace.
