WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
OCTOBER 21, 2022
TOPIC: DON’T PROMOTE HUMAN HELP ABOVE GOD’S HELP
BY T. O. BANSO
“And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; 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 Chronicles 16:12-13 New King James Version).
Don’t replace God’s help with human help whether it is financial, medical, legal, or any help for that matter. God won’t come down to earth physically to help you; He can use human beings, nature, etc. But you don’t know who or how He wants to use it. That’s why your faith should look unto God. If you must talk to human beings, talk to God first. Even when human beings are helping you, don’t let them replace God in your life.
King Asa made the mistake of ignoring the help of God; he promoted human help above God’s help. 2 Chronicles 16:12-13 says, “And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; 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” (New King James Version). This passage shows that Asa replaced God’s help with doctors’ help! He died of his sickness because he ignored the help of God. The Living Bible puts verse 12 this way: “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became seriously diseased in his feet, but he didn’t go to the Lord with the problem but to the doctors.”
Asa’s problem started three years earlier in the thirty-sixth year of his reign when, instead of trusting God to give him victory over Israel, he went into a military alliance with Syria (2 Chronicles 16:1-5). Despite rebuke from the LORD, he was rebellious, unrepentant, or adamant.
Three years later, in his thirty-ninth year on the throne, he was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Yet, he failed to seek God’s help. If God allows someone to be afflicted with a disease, which doctor will heal him or her? Asa’s sickness lasted about two years. In his forty-first year on the throne, he died. If Asa had repented and cried to God, He could have healed him. Hosea 6:1 says, “Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up” (New King James Version).
Medical help should not be despised. God has saved the lives of many through it. Doctors care but it’s only God who heals. Medicine has its limitation. If God refuses to heal someone, who will heal him?
There is nothing wrong with seeking medical help. But if you must go to the hospital, go with faith in God; go having prayed that God will direct you, will help the healthcare givers so that they will do the right thing. There are cases of wrong diagnosis, wrong prescription, and all forms of human error. So the best hospital is not a perfect system.
Trust God for your health but don’t despise or reject medical care. God is the Great Physician; healthcare givers are only trying their best. Many of them always say this. There are many things beyond their power. They fall sick too and sometimes cannot see their patients!
Divine healing is real. God’s name is Jehovah Rapha – the Lord that heals (Exodus 15:26). Pray to God for your healing even if you must go to the hospital. Doctors are not God; they are men (Isaiah 31:3).
Follow your doctor’s instructions, but put your trust in God. “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!” (Isaiah 31:1 New King James Version).
Psalm 33:16-17 says, “No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength” (New King James Version).
What applies to your relationship with doctors also applies to your relationship with other professionals or other people. They are all human beings and have their limitations. The best of them are still human beings! Don’t promote their help above that of God. Don’t make the mistake of putting your trust in them instead of God. John Wesley said, “The help of every creature must be used, with an eye to the creator, and in dependence on him, who makes every creature that to us which it is, without whom the most skilful and faithful are physicians of no value” (John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible). We all need God. Nobody should replace God in your life.
Don’t ignore God’s help because somebody has promised to help you. If God refuses to help you, the help of man will be useless. If God is against someone, who will ever be for him? “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31 New King James Version).
Trust in God, not in man. Trust in God, not in your intelligence, human contacts, weapons, etc. David said some trusted in chariots, and some in horses but, he said, “we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7 New King James Version). While those who trusted in chariots and horses bowed down and fell, those who trusted in the LORD rose and stood upright (verse 8). The difference will always be clear. The writer of Psalm 44 says, “For I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me. But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us” (verses 6-7 New King James Version).
Don’t promote human help above God’s help. God is God, and man is man! I was told of somebody who promised to help someone and the person eagerly went to his house on the appointed day only to learn that he died overnight! His expectation was cut off. Another person was removed from office on the eve of the day he wanted to assist somebody with an appointment. He got a disappointment, not an appointment!
Don’t promote human help above God’s help. Don’t neglect God and trust in man. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited’” (Jeremiah 17:5-6 New King James Version).
Conversely, verses 7-8 say, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit” (New King James Version).
Don’t promote human help above God’s help.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: Father, I repent of whoever or whatever I have put my trust in other than You. I shall not trust in chariots or horses; I shall not trust in man but You. I shall seek You and not promote human help above Your help. My hope and expectations shall not be cut off in Jesus’ name.
(For over 800 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
