Acting in Fear

“[Jesus] did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58). Unbelief always hinders the fullness of God’s revelation and blessing and Scripture makes it clear that God does not take it lightly. He gives us an example of this in the story of King Asa, a righteous king and descendant of David who ruled over Judah (read the account in 2 Chronicles 14 through 16).

During King Asa’s reign, he wiped out idolatry and brought revival to the land. Then, as the people enjoyed God’s blessing, a huge army from Ethiopia invaded Judah, causing Asa to turn to the Lord in prayer, calling out for help. Judah won a tremendous victory in one of the greatest miracles of faith in the history of God’s people. After the battle, a prophet came to Asa and, rather than congratulating him on the great victory, he issued a warning: “King Asa, as long as you rely on the Lord and fully trust in him, you will be blessed. You will win victory after victory and the Lord will walk with you. But if you turn away from him and trust in your flesh, chaos and disorder will follow you.”

King Asa faithfully walked with the Lord and Judah was greatly blessed by God, as the prophet had said. But then another crisis came and Judah was attacked again. The enemy captured a town just five miles from Jerusalem, Judah’s capital, and cut off the vital trade route into the city, which could cause Judah’s entire economy to collapse.

This time, King Asa panicked and instead of trusting the Lord, he turned to an enemy, the king of Syria, for help. Unbelievably, Asa stripped Judah’s treasury of all its wealth and offered it to the Syrians to deliver Judah — an act of absolute unbelief. God had in motion his plan to deliver Judah but Asa aborted it by acting in fear. Because Asa did not trust the Lord, from then on Judah had wars.

Acting in unbelief always brings turmoil and confusion — no exceptions. But trusting God’s Word will enable you to stand firm in the face of any challenge and let God bring victory.