HOW DO YOU REACH YOUR GOALS ?

For the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. -- 2 Chronicles 16.9.

This Old Testament passage relates the story of Asa, king of Juda. Here is a quick summary: Asa was attacked by a powerful army of a million Ethiopians ;  he only had a 300,000 men army and was seriously outnumbered. He realised the only way he could defeat them was by relying on God. So he cried out to the Lord, « Lord, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord, for we rely on You. » God answered his request and caused his army to win, and the Ethiopians had to retreat. They won because they put their trust in God.

A little later, another king with a smaller army threatened Asa, but this time, instead of depending on the Lord, he took all the treasures and gold from the temple, and send them to the king of Syria to hire him to attack his enemies ! As a result, he avoided the war and got what he wanted but he did not do it God’s way ! he did not depend on God’s help, he depended on the flesh.

And God sent the prophet Hanani to tell him : « Were not the Ethiopians a huge army? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.  For the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. In this you have done foolishly, because you have relied on the king of Syria, and not on the Lord your God ; therefore from now on you shall have wars. » 

When Asa was overwhelmed and there was nothing that he could do, then he trusted in God, but when it was something he could handle, like bribing the syrian king, then he depended upon the flesh and took an easy route. And it cost him a lot !  

Here is a great lesson we can learn from his mistake : how we accomplish something is often more important that the end result.

The journey is more important than the destination. There is a right and a wrong way to prosper and to solve problems. It is not about achieving, obtaining, reaching a goal, it is about relationship with the Lord and trusting Him before all other means.

We wonder sometimes why problems happen in our lives, and we could easily trace them back to the past when we went our own way and did not depend upon the Lord, ask Him for wisdom and receive His instructions. And now we are reaping the results.

HOW DO YOU OBTAIN THINGS ? If you don’t care how you get things, whether it’s a job, a promotion, money, or relationships, if you don’t care to reach your goals through manipulation, dishonest practices, compromising your convictions or even worse, to the cost of hurting others, in short any other way than trusting God, it will lead to problems and profits you nothing. Faith is what pleases God, you need to trust Him.

Stop a minute and think about it :  God almighty is looking throughout the whole earth for people who are seeking Him with all their hearts, people that He can bless, and show Himself strong in their behalf !

I pray that right now, you will say, not in words only but from your heart : « God, look no further. Here I am and I am going to follow You. » And you’ll see awesome things happen. God’s plans for you are better than your plans for yourself.