“In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a disease in his feet, and his disease became increasingly severe. Yet even in his disease he didn’t seek the LORD but only the physicians” (2 Chr 16:12).
King Asa followed the Lord wholeheartedly with the exception of the last days of his life. He was attacked by the northern kingdom of Israel and sought out Aram instead of the Lord for help. And here in this incident the last two years of his life he had a terrible foot disease and sought only physicians and not the Lord.
As one who just tore my rotator cuff, I am guilty of this too. I barely have sought the Lord. Yes, I’ve had people pray, but it’s been “only the physicians.” It’s not that God is against going to the physician as he isn’t. Not at all. The gospel writer Luke was a physician. The problem is when we seek “only physicians.” It’s not an either or scenario but we need a both/and approach.
When I was working overseas, doctors were few and far between and oftentimes the medicine and reusable needles and such were dangerous in and of themselves. We had to have prayer for everything. When I have lived back in my home country in the West, we have good medicine and forget to genuinely pray–pray ourselves and have others lay hands on and pray for us.
The Lord wants both.
It’s easy when we have so much to forget at the beginning and of the day He is what we need. He can heal us or even lead us to the right doctors and places to go. He has done both for me.
So right now it’s time to repent. I think Sunday I will go to my very conservative church leaders and ask them to pray as I’m in quite a bit of pain. I will also seek the Lord in an intentional way. I will also take my anti-inflammatory and pain killing meds. And even talk to my doctor next week for follow-up. It is both. Depending on Him, and using the resources he has made.
As times grow more volatile, these are the lessons we need to relearn.
