What the World Needs Now
Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 14-17; Psalm 14
The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, but when in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
2 Chronicles 15:2–4
These words were spoken by Azariah to King Asa and the people of Judah during Asa’s reign. We should be cautious about turning this into a blanket promise for every believer under the New Covenant. To do so would ignore the promises of grace found in verses like, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.”
Misapplying this text can turn it into law used in the wrong way.
Nevertheless, the principles behind Azariah’s words still matter. He wasn’t simply giving personal advice to Asa; he was reminding the king why the nation had fallen into such decline and distress, and why previous leaders had failed so badly.
The same principle applies today: when we live as practical atheists by ignoring God’s will, sidelining His Word, acting as if He’s irrelevant; we shouldn’t be shocked when life goes sideways. This isn’t a denial of grace; it’s a recognition that what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace” is real. Grace doesn’t exempt us from the consequences of living carelessly or faithlessly.
This passage also quietly reminds us of the things that make life work as it should, it states what the world needs now: a relationship with the true God, Jesus Christ, the guidance of His Word, and godly leadership. When those things are present, life tends to go better. When they’re absent, trouble tends to follow.
Thankfully, even when we stumble or drift, God invites us to seek Him, and when we do, just as in the days of Asa, “He will be found by you.”
