Majority of people have a common characteristic: they cry out to God in difficulties and plead with the Mighty for help; however, when days and years go by and they become established and successful in their work and life, they forget that they received their success as a result of relying on the Lord.
There is a folk proverb, “Well begun is half done”. A wonderful saying, but let us not forget that a good beginning does not guarantee a happy ending.
When God created the earth, he had in mind constant fellowship with man. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). These verses show that Adam and Eve had communication with God in the Garden of Eden. Even when man was driven out of the Garden of Eden because of disobedience, the Lord sent His Word through the Prophets for man’s own good, and later the Bible and the Holy Spirit became man’s guides to a successful life.
Unfortunately, people forget that God created everything in this world in a way that people must have constant fellowship with the Lord for their own safety. The whole Bible testifies that the success of man is in constant fellowship with God.
In Second Chronicles chapters 14 through 16, we read the story of King Asa. This is a striking example showing that “a good beginning does not guarantee a happy ending”.
“Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, for he removed the altars of the foreign gods… He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment…” (2 Ch. 14:2-5).
Due to doing God’s will, there were no wars in Judea, and the land had rest and peace from the Lord. Asa started to build walled cities. “‘…We have sought the Lord our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.’ So they built and prospered. And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor” (2 Ch. 14:7-8).
However, the hope of Asa was not in the strong walls and towers or in the troops. When the enemy came, “Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, ‘Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude.’… So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover…” (2 Ch. 14:11-13).
Asa knew how to thank God and bring thanksgiving offerings to Him, “So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered to the Lord… Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul… and the Lord gave them rest all around… And there was no war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa” (2 Ch. 15:10-19).
For twenty years, the land enjoyed peace. On the thirty-sixth year of the reign of king Asa, king Baasha of Israel created dangerous conditions for king Asa of Judah by fortifying Ramah. In order to avoid the danger, Asa turned to Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, who gave him a helping hand at once. It seemed everything went peacefully and was right; the danger was prevented, and even more, Asa used the stones and timber of Ramah to build two other cities.
“And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: ‘Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’ Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison… And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time” (2 Ch. 16:7-10).
When a person ceases to have daily fellowship with the Lord, when they forget Who gives them strength, the spirit of pride hardens their heart, and they lose everything they have built by the leading of the Lord.
At the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa had a sickness, but because of his hardened heart, he again did not turn to God, and on the forty-first year of his reign, he died. It is so sad that he reigned for 36 years trusting in the Lord and receiving good things from Him, but then he attributed all the success to his own wisdom and diplomacy. Pride blinded his spiritual senses. Instead of obeying the word of the prophet, Asa put him in prison. Asa did not repent for the sin of abandoning God and relying on man, the Syrian king Ben-Hadad. And because of his unrepentant heart, he again relied on man, the physicians, “…yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign” (2 Ch. 16:12-13).
The Lord leaves the final decision to man. He is full of mercy and compassion. Unlike Asa, who started in the fear of the Lord, but fell into pride by the end of his life, Rehoboam and his rulers heeded to the words of a prophet of God and repented. “‘Thus says the Lord: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’’ So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, ‘The Lord is righteous.’” (2 Ch. 12:5-6). When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, He said, “They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance” (2 Ch. 12:7).
A good beginning does not guarantee a happy ending. Waking with the Lord and being constantly led by His Spirit is an everyday practice. Fellowship with the Lord keeps a person in humility. Humility, meekness and obedience guarantee a successful walk and a happy ending.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt. 11:29).