Move Forward 

The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war. 2 Chronicles 16:9
This is what the seer Hanani told King Asa of Judah. For over 30 years there was peace and no war for the kingdom of Judah. In the early years of his reign Asa did what was pleasing and good in God’s sight. He removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines and commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord, ” the God of his ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands.”  

Asa told the people of Judah, “Let us build towns and fortify them with walls, towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God, and he has given us peace on every side.” Asa had God with Him and was blessed as a result of it. The people saw that God was with Him such that many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa’s reign.

“They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies from every side.”

However, in the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, he made a ruinous mistake. For whatever reason when he was under attack he sought the help of man in lieu of the help from God. He compromised his values and became angry when told that he had disobeyed. He became ill and failed to seek God for his healing. All those years of devotion and adherence to God and at the end he dies without God.

As long as we seek the Lord, he will be found by us. The scripture tells us that God searches the earth: looking for those hearts that are fully committed to Him. His reason? Simply to strengthen us and assure us that He is there to help us and will walk alongside us as we move through the clashes and tempests of life! They are there and they are real and sometimes set us back. 

But we keep moving forward slower perhaps but we must finish what we started; it truly is worth it all . You must always act in the fear of the Lord, with faithfulness and an undivided heart. 2 Chronicles 19:9 Blessed be the Name of the Lord!