Are you seeking for Me? Well here I am!
Second Chronicles chapter 15 speaks to people who want to know this one question:
What does it mean to seek the Lord—and what happens when we do?
When God’s people seek the LORD wholeheartedly, He meets them, strengthens them, reforms them, and gives them rest.
Many people want God’s blessings but without God Himself.
Today we are talking about king Asa of Judah, the Southern tribe. Was he good or bad? Yay! He was considered Good!
I. God’s Promise to Those Who Seek Him (vv. 1–2)
2 Chronicles 15
1 The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
A prophet named Azariah comes to King Asa with a simple message:
“The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you.”
That is a comforting promise.
Notice what God does not say:
He does not say, “If you are strong enough.”
He does not say, “If you never failed.”
He does not say, “If you’re young.”
He says, “If you seek Me.”
Seeking the Lord means turning your heart toward Him—trusting Him, leaning on Him, talking to Him, listening to Him.
Illustration:
When you lose something in the house like your car keys or your cell phone, what do you do? Most of us look around the house for it until we find it, right! You don’t just say, oh well, and then go to the Lexus dealer and buy another new $80K car and go to T-Mobile website and spend another $1500 on another new phone. It’s just money, right!? Most of us can’t just do that!
However, in this town, some people are so rich they have three or more cars in their front yard… up on jack stands.
But no, if you lose something, you look around until you find it! It might take you an hour but you’ll do it! Those keys are always in the last place you look! …Because you don’t keep looking for them if you’ve found them, right!
But many of us forsake God and then instead of seeking Him again with all our heart, we just go on about our business and leave Him and forsake Him. This should not be! You should be friends and chatting with Him all the time and reading the bible - or if you speak christianese: communing with Him all of the time.
If you’re doing that, what happens? It’s going to go well for you.
Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day
Pray Every Day, Pray Every Day;
Read Your Bible, Pray Every Day,
And You Will Grow, Grow, Grow.
You Will Grow, Grow, Grow,
You Will Grow, Grow, Grow.
Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday,
And You Will Grow, Grow, Grow.
If you’re not doing that, what happens? It’s not going to go well for you.
Don’t Read Your Bible And Forget To Pray
And Forget To Pray, And Forget To Pray;
Don’t Read Your Bible And Forget To Pray,
And You Will Shrink, Shrink, Shrink.
You Will Shrink, Shrink, Shrink,
You Will Shrink, Shrink, Shrink.
Don’t Read Your Bible And Forget To Pray,
And You Will Shrink, Shrink, Shrink.
God is not far away. He is near. He promises, “I will be found by you.”
That promise is still true today.
II. Life Without Seeking the Lord (vv. 3–6)
2 Chronicles 3-6 - Life without seeking the Lord
3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.
What happens to a godless nation when they don’t follow God and when they stop following laws and stop caring about right and wrong? Eek! You don’t want God on your bad side!
The prophet reminded them of how Israel was like that! They got into a bad place, no worship, no teaching, and there was trouble everywhere! It was not safe to be out on the streets, not safe to travel! Nation was against Nation, City against City. Every kind of distress!
It even says that God was stirring up the pot with every kind of distress! Why do you think He did that? Maybe punishment for wrongdoing? Maybe He’s like saying, Hey guys, remember me up here? Maybe both?
They say there’s no atheists in a fox hole. Seems troubled times often get people to turn back to God so maybe that's God getting you to remember Him with that gentile punishment? Seems that when times are troubled it’s because the people have turned away from God and peace when they have turned back to God! Seems like an easy formula but so often we forget!
Ever seen the saying: No God, no peace! Know God, Know peace? Bumper sticker? Truth!
When people stop seeking the Lord, confusion and fear follow.
But this passage is not meant to scare us. It is meant to remind us of this truth:
👉 When God is missing from the center, peace is missing from the heart.
If God is missing, He didn’t move, so who moved away? You did and you need to get back to Him! God doesn’t tolerate sin for long!
III. A Call to Courage and Action (vv. 7–8)
2 Chronicles 15:7-8 - a call to courage and action
7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.
The prophet says:
“But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
Now that’s interesting—because some people might think, “My working days are over.”
But God isn’t talking about physical labor.
He’s talking about spiritual faithfulness.
King Asa was faithful and responded by:
Removing idols
Repairing the altar
Turning his heart fully toward God
Illustration:
Many of you know what it’s like to maintain a home. Over time, things need repair—not replacement, just care. Tightening a hinge. Fixing a step.
If a door hinge breaks you don’t go and burn that house down and buy a new house, you just fix that hinge and you’re as good as new!
The altar didn’t need to be replaced—it needed to be restored.
Some of us don’t need a new faith—we need a renewed one.
King Asa renewed his faith and that of the land and brought about positive change when he faithfully turned to God!
IV. Wholehearted Seeking Brings Joy (vv. 9–15)
2 Chronicles 15:9-15
9 Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
The people gathered together. They renewed their commitment to the Lord.
The Bible says:
“They sought Him with their whole desire… and the LORD gave them rest.”
What does Rest mean? Stress free! Awe!!!
Illustration:
Rest is what you feel when you sit down at the end of a long day and say, “Everything that needed to be done is done.”
That’s the rest God gives to hearts that trust Him.
Some of the sweetest faith I’ve ever seen is found in older believers who say,
“I’ve put my life in God’s hands—and I trust Him.”
V. Seeking the Lord to the End (vv. 16–19)
2 Chronicles 15:16-19
16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
Asa even made difficult decisions within his own family to stay faithful.
Why?
Because seeking the Lord means putting Him first—at every stage of life.
Asa didn’t finish perfectly, but he finished faithfully for many years.
And that matters.
Conclusion: An Invitation to seek the Lord
“If you seek Him, He will be found by you.” That promise is still good today.
Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Matthew 23:37
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
God wants our relationship with Him and to share His love with us so badly but often we walk away from Him and forsake Him! Don’t do that!
Psalm 10:4
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
Most of all, the lost person should seek the Lord in Salvation! God loves people so much that he sent is only son as a sacrifice for sin to die on the cross to save us sinful people! That’s such a great love! I hope if you’re not saved, you’ll see what great love He has for you and doesn’t want to see you go to a place made for the devil. He wants to gather you as chicks under His wings and give you a big love hug! Don’t reject and forsake that love.
Let us seek the Lord—not anxiously, not fearfully—but peacefully, trusting that He is near.
