God desires to bless His people. God’s blessings however, are contingent upon following His precepts. God gave us guidelines for living, not to limit our freedom, but to enhance our freedom so we can experience His peace and joy. God appeared to Solomon after he dedicated the temple and gave him a strong warning:

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,” (2 Chronicles 7:12-13)

Solomon received a picture of an ominous future. God was teaching that great intentions do not guarantee a strong finish. God knows that His people are prone to go astray, Israel’s history demonstrated their propensity to wander from God’s teachings. Israel’s disobedience was foreshadowed in the Mosaic covenant, but the next verse revealed how Israel could flip the script and come back to God:

and My people who are called by My name 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. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

God provided a means to restore fellowship and receive His blessings. Although this promise pertained to the nation of Israel, the actions that are listed are pertinent to Christians who may have wandered from God. It starts with God’s people divesting themselves of any form of pride and coming to God in humility:

You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:7)

Prayer demonstrates our humility and dependence on God. When we realize that we cannot succeed without God, then we must diligently seek His face:

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

Is seeking God your first response or your last resort? Finally, God’s people must turn from their wicked ways. God does not bless those who are living apart from His ways. Solomon needed to learn that with great power comes great responsibility. As the leader of the nation, God specifically warned him:

As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, to do according to everything that I have commanded you, and keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, “You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.” (2 Chronicles 7:17-18)

Rick Higgins

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark