"Good Choices are Often Hard Ones"

2nd Chronicles 15.16 “The Message”

“In his clean-up of the country, Asa went so far as to remove his mother, Queen Maacah, from her throne because she had built a shockingly obscene image of the sex goddess Asherah. Asa tore it down, smashed it, and burned it up in the Kidron Valley.”

Sometimes leaders must make hard choices. Asa’s mother[1] had a thing for false gods and even authorized the creation of a forbidden idol. King Asa could honor his mother or condemn idolatry. But he couldn’t do both. It was Mom or God. These were mutually exclusive options yet the Bible commands both…

“You shall not make for yourself an idol…”

“Honor your father and your mother…”

Exodus 20.4, 12

Asa was conflicted. Which of the “Ten Commandments” would he prefer? He could take either course of action citing the second or fifth commandment of the law as his supporting text. The king faced a fork in the road. He had a choice to make, a tough choice. Fifteen years into his reign, he made the right one. Asa honored God and chose to “remove his mother, Queen Maacah, from her throne.”

Leaders must make hard choices. In the face of excellent opposing arguments, real leaders take a stand. Decisions must be made. Men and women of faith seek God for solutions, especially when Scripture may be used to support all sides of an argument. A godly leader is aware that the devil can quote the Bible (see Matthew 4.5-6) and understands that wise application of the Scripture is as important as the text itself. 

Choices are expensive. They cost the leader something personal. Asa could not please God and honor his mother. One of them had to go. Asa made a hard decision. It was clearly the right one. He was a real leader and God honored him for it.

Jesus had something to say about placing loved ones above God...

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother,

his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes,

even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14.27 NIV

Good choices are often hard ones. Good leaders make hard decisions. When a fork appears in the road, take the right path, not necessarily the easy one.

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[1] Maacah was in fact King Asa’s grandmother having been the wife of Rehoboam and the mother of Asa’s father, Abijah. In the Hebrew scriptures, the terms “mother” or “father” are often used interchangeably with grandparents and, sometimes, even more remote ancestors.