Acts 16:⁷ At that time the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah, and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped you. ⁸ Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with exceedingly many chariots and cavalry? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. ⁹ For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the entire earth, to strengthen those whose heart is true to him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the stocks, in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties on some of the people at the same time. 

King Asa was doing so well, relying on the Lord God to give him victory over enemies of Israel. But then he went sideways, placing his trust in the king and army of Aram rather than God. This is resonating for me this morning because I’m connecting this story with Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” My tendency is to rely on something or someone other than the Lord when I’m struggling.

Lord teach me to trust in you. First. Amen.