Link Between Removal and Restoration

Somewhere along the way you’ve allowed it to become a part of your life or your home or your daily routines. You’ve grown accustomed to it. Maybe it became a part of your life rather innocently. It was no big dark scheme you had concocted in your mind nor did it seem necessarily problematic. It was definitely not a threat – in fact it seemed justifiable. “Really, it can’t be a part of the current problem. If it was, tons of others would be in the same situation I am in,” you reason. But there’s that nagging feeling that things really haven’t improved since then, so maybe it is a part of the problem.

Have you ever reflected upon your progress and wondered where things started to take a bit of a nosedive in your life? There’s an old expression that says: “Leave no stone unturned in your search.” Don’t assume anything. So often we lose something and in our frantic search we say: “Well, I just know it wouldn’t be there!” So we look somewhere else. But that maybe the very stone under which it is hiding. There could be more than one contributing factor to your current situation. How many things can you identify?

When Asa became the King of Judah, he wanted to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord – even if it was against popular opinion and even if it cut deeply into his own life. You can read his story in 1Kings 15 and 2Chronicles 14-16. When he stepped up to the plate or should I say the throne, he put his finger on a number of unhealthy practices which would have to be removed if spiritual progress was to be made. Those things were obstacles to blessing; impediments to growth and hindrances to deep restoration.

His removal plan included:

1.      Removal of male temple prostitutes who were apart of the pagan idolatrous worship rituals;

2.      Removal of religious images and icons;

3.      Removal of the crown from his grandmother’s head –  Queen Maachah was dethroned;

4.      Removal and destruction of his grandmother’s obscene image that she and others used for religious purposes; and

5.      Removal of the illegal places of sacrifices.

Not only did King Asa remove barriers to the spiritual progress of the nation, he took constructive steps to bring the nation closer to the Lord in their collective experience. He provided decisive leadership in promoting once again the laws of God and commanded his people to seek the Lord. He built protective walls around the cities of his people to preserve them from the enemy. And God blessed him and his kingdom.

And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:

(2Chronicles 14:2)

Restoration requires a two-pronged approach: removing the hindrances and returning to the Lord.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand:

let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

…Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

(Romans 13:12-14)

If the hindrances to your spiritual growth are not obvious to you, ask the Lord to speak to your heart about anything that is not a help. Ask Him, as you read and pray to increase your sensitivity to what’s right and what’s wrong; what is helping and what is hindering your spiritual growth. If you genuinely want to know, you will soon know.