June 15

2 Kings 12, 13, 14
2 Chronicles 25

How big is your God?

In today's reading, Amaziah king of Judah is planning a campaign against Edom. He is able to recruit 300,000 men from Judah. He also decided to pay 100,000 mercenaries from Israel to join the fight. Then Amaziah was visited by a prophet who had a message for him from God. He told the king to send the hired Israelite soldiers home. He said, "O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel... Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow." The message was very simple: Judah would lose the fight if they brought with them troops who were not on the Lord's side.

Amaziah had a very typical human response. He worried about the money he had paid the mercenaries! He had paid them 100 talents (which according to Scott's devotional from last year, equals about 4 tons of silver!) and he wanted to know what would happen with his money. It would be easy to criticize Amaziah in this situation, but I think he reacted in a way that a lot of us would have. Often times when we face a challenge, we get caught up on a detail that's small and insignificant when compared with the big picture. God replied by saying that He had the resources to give the king much more than 100 talents. If God had control over who won the battle, then He certainly had the ability to provide for all of Judah's needs.

The next time you face a crisis, ask yourself, "What is my God capable of? How big is my God?" God cares about all the details of our lives, whether big or small. No matter our worries or concerns, He has control of it all and He is on our side.