“Backsliding doesn’t happen all at once”

2 Chronicles 15 The wise prophet spoke to Asa:  If you seek him, he will respond to you, but if you reject him, he will reject you.  Asa sought God up to the 35th year of his reign, but like many of us, Asa listened with one ear to the ground and one ear toward heaven. The prophets of old had spoken that same refrain to other kings, but few imparted that truth to their heart. Just as then, so today, the enemy uses distractions and fear to keep our eyes on our circumstances and away from God.  

Asa was a good king for many years, but then an enemy kingdom threatened him. The swords of Benhadad were rattling, and Asa’s fear was escalating. Instead of going to God as he had done in the past, he resorted to bribery. Asa didn’t lose his confidence and his closeness to God all at once but gradually. Lesson fact: Protect yourself from the enemy by staying in the Word. 

God sends tests like this into our lives to see how we will respond. Are you like so many who forget what God has done?  Using a computer illustration, we might say Asa lost his memory card that held all of his victories under God, and when he tried to download new information, it failed because it didn’t have the right driver.