"And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians."
2 Chronicles 16:12
This is interesting. I don't think that going to the doctor is something that any of us need to feel guilty about, so why does it seem that Asa screwed up here? One reason could be that physicians just didn't know how to deal with his particular disease back then, and God was really his only hope for a cure. Another reason could be that God does know more, even than doctors. I think the most likely reason though is just that Asa wasn't including the Lord in his life. That's the mistake we all make, right? We partition our lives into work and school and home and church... or whatever other groups we have... and there isn't a lot of crossover between them. When we go to church, we think about God, and when we're at work, we think about work. When we're at home, we think about that. But the reality is that God is part of all of it, because he is a part of us, and we need that influence wherever we are. At the doctor's office, in the hospital, at work, on the subway... everywhere.
This isn't a scare tactic, even though Asa dies in the next verse. :) God isn't trying to panic us into stampeding towards him. I think he's just trying to say... 'look, this shouldn't have happened. My help is so easy to ask for, and yet you won't even look up or consider another solution.' So, let's listen, and look, and consider. Definitely not saying don't go to the doctor either. :) Just let's include God in those decisions as well. Maybe he has something to add. Maybe he can help steady the surgeon's hands when needed. Maybe anything... with God.
2 Chronicles 16:12
This is interesting. I don't think that going to the doctor is something that any of us need to feel guilty about, so why does it seem that Asa screwed up here? One reason could be that physicians just didn't know how to deal with his particular disease back then, and God was really his only hope for a cure. Another reason could be that God does know more, even than doctors. I think the most likely reason though is just that Asa wasn't including the Lord in his life. That's the mistake we all make, right? We partition our lives into work and school and home and church... or whatever other groups we have... and there isn't a lot of crossover between them. When we go to church, we think about God, and when we're at work, we think about work. When we're at home, we think about that. But the reality is that God is part of all of it, because he is a part of us, and we need that influence wherever we are. At the doctor's office, in the hospital, at work, on the subway... everywhere.
This isn't a scare tactic, even though Asa dies in the next verse. :) God isn't trying to panic us into stampeding towards him. I think he's just trying to say... 'look, this shouldn't have happened. My help is so easy to ask for, and yet you won't even look up or consider another solution.' So, let's listen, and look, and consider. Definitely not saying don't go to the doctor either. :) Just let's include God in those decisions as well. Maybe he has something to add. Maybe he can help steady the surgeon's hands when needed. Maybe anything... with God.
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