2 Chronicles 16:7

2 Chronicles 16:7 says, And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.  Hanani, who was said to be a seer of God, came to Asa and told him that since he had relied on the king of Syria and not God for help and protection, that the army of Syria had escaped out of his hand.  We should never put more faith in anyone or anything that we do in God, and if we do, the spiritual victory will slip out of our hands.  Verse eight adds, Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand.  Hanani reminded Asa of his victory over great forces because he relied on God, with the implication being that he should have done so again.  As followers of Christ, we should be able to look back on our lives and see when God has given us victory and put our faith in Him to always do so.  Verse nine continues, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.  Hanani said that God watches over the whole world to show Himself strong to those whose heart is perfect before him.  Our heart can only be made perfect before God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and living under the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit.  Hanani also said that since Asa had acted foolishly by relying on the king of Syria instead of God that he was always going to have a war to fight.  If we are not at peace in the world today as Christians, it may be that we are looking to someone or something other than God to bring us peace.  Verse ten states, Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.  Instead of listening to Hanani and repenting, Asa got mad and put him in prison and even oppressed some of the people of Judah.  If we are outside of God's will as Christians, if He sends someone with a message to correct us, we certainly cannot afford to get angry with them.  Verse eleven adds, And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.  We are told that all the acts of Asa, from first to last, were written in the books of the kings of Judah and Israel.  We have some of his acts preserved for us today, but not everything.  The important thing was always his obedience to God, which is what led him to success. People do not need to know everything we have done in life, but they do need to know what God has done through us so that He might be glorified.  Verse twelve continues, And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.  In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa had a disease in his feet.  He did not seek God to heal him but sought the physicians.  We can only find spiritual healing through putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, and we should also acknowledge that physical healing comes from God as well, even if He works through the medical profession to bring it about.  Verse thirteen says, And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.  Asa reigned for two more years, during which time I believe he still had the affliction in his feet, and then he died.  We may suffer unnecessarily because of a lack of faith, but one thing we can be certain of is that we like Asa will one day die, if Jesus Christ doesn't return first.  Verse fourteen adds, And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.  Asa had a great funeral, but that really didn't matter.  What is done with this old body once we die is really of no importance.  It is only our relationship with Jesus Christ when we die that matters.