2 Chronicles 16:9

9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

As we saw in Part I of a heart fully committed to trust Him who we seek and who our hearts are committed to reveals our real heart relationships. We focused on several questions like “How is your heart in relationships?” because it is good for us to take time to reflect. Often in scripture God asks us questions and in those moments we need to take time to be still in quiet internal reflection. Friedrich Hegel said “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history” The reason this is so true in our culture is that we put all our effort into forward motion and consequently there is little time for true reflection. We are so busy trying to get somewhere that there is no time to reflect on where we have been. It is important to move forward but not at the expense and ignorance of God’s past teaching. Who we place our trust in impacts several areas of our lives that are all woven together through trusting. Who we place our trust in reveals:

•             RIGHT HEART

Right relationships start with a right heart. God is looking for our total trust and obedience He is looking for people with a right heart attitude.  We need a heart that sees the reality of who God is and what He is able to do for those that love Him. He longs to give us the victory over everything that comes against us in this life, 2 Chronicles 16:8 says “Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand.”

Huge problems and seemingly insurmountable things can come against us but we can still have the victory if we will keep our heart right and be fully committed and fully loyal to Him. It is not the size of the enemy that comes against us that is the problem it is who or what we are putting our trust in. I’ve found in my own life that if my walk with God is not carefully maintained there is that subtle drift to hollowness. It doesn’t take very long before Christianity becomes a heartless habit, often moving me into some form of hypocrisy. Our walk with God is, above and beyond everything else, an inside-out reality.  God begins to work in our lives on an internal heart level and He is not impressed with just the externals.

• REBELLIOUS HEART

The Lord is searching to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him, in other words those whose hearts are COMPLETELY His. Who does your heart belong to? Asa had a divided heart, he was not fully committed to the Lord and we need to understand that this is a heart of rebellion. Asa did not want to listen to the Word of God through Hanani the prophet, when confronted by the prophet Asa threw him in prison. Our actions often reveal the true condition of our hearts, because our behavior is a true reflection of what we believe. The Lord is searching for people that He may powerfully strengthen through every circumstance, trial and difficulty. The Lord knows those who need His strength, grace and power demonstrated on their behalf.  He sees every hurt, every trial, the hardships and circumstances that we face and He desires to strengthen our weary hearts and weakened faith. God will strengthen those who acknowledge Him as Lord and God and trust Him by follow Him faithfully, trust is a heart issue.  Through our circumstances the Lord wants to show His mighty power and faithfulness, He searches and sees the heart that cries out to Him and those who acknowledge their need of Him.  A rebellious heart does not request help but rejects what it really needs. What and who are you receiving and rejecting? The scriptures are filled with those that God powerfully strengthened and helped because their hearts were committed:

Moses when he was afraid to go to Egypt and face Pharaoh, the Lord promised “I will be with you”. The Lord demonstrated His might and faithfulness to Moses and Israel and He alone delivered them out of Egypt through the parting of the Sea.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the three Hebrews refused to bow down to the golden idol of Nebuchadnezzar, they remained true to worship the One True God. As a result they were thrown into the furnace of fire but they refused to compromise in the face of death. The Lord intervened and protected them with His presence, they were delivered out of the fire alive and unburned.

Daniel also refused to compromise the law of Almighty God for the law of a human king. When he chose to pray to and worship God alone he was cast into a den of lions. The Lord sent His angel to shut the mouths of the lions and kept Daniel from harm.

Peter in Acts 12 was imprisoned for preaching about Jesus, under heavy guard an angel of the Lord came and released him and set him free to continue his preaching.

When we turn to God and commit our whole hearts to Him we find ourselves trusting in Him alone and we experience what He alone can do. We experience the powerful arm of deliverance that parts the circumstances of our life. We experience the preserving presence of the water of the word that quenches the burning flames of our circumstances. We experience His powerful hand that holds the jaws of our deadly circumstances closed. We experience His light that breaks the chains of darkness and sets us free to praise and preach about His name. These examples should increase our faith in the faithfulness and power of God.  Whatever situation we may face the Lord desires to “strongly support” us, to strengthen our weak hearts.  It is in the heart that a person believes Him and it is in the heart that a person denies Him. Are you weak and weary is it time to trust in His Strength? To trust in the promise of His Word, Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”?

2 Chronicles 16:9

9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

In 2 Chronicles 16 we find the prophet Hanani speaking a word of rebuke from the Lord to King Asa, because Asa had turned from the Lord and looked to others for his help. In life we are always confronted with the decision of who we will trust, who we will receive and rely on and who we will reject. In the turning to there is always a turning away from, and in his trials and circumstances Asa sought a human solution to his problem. Instead of relying upon the Lord to intervene in his battle Asa buys a treaty with another king to take care of his problem. It is not sin to use human means to solve our problems, but it is sin to trust them more than God, to think they are better than God’s ways, or to leave God completely out of the problem-solving process.  Instead of seeking God Asa had sought the help of pagan nations to help Him. Who do you seek and turn to for help, who do you include in the problem solving aspects of your life? Asa was searching for a solution but it wasn’t just Asa who was searching, in the midst of this word from the Lord, we find a powerful truth that not only applied then but also applies to us today. God was also searching and we need to be aware of the “Searching of the Lord”. What does it mean to search? It’s the process of looking or seeking after something in order to find or uncover. Can you remember a time in your life when you were searching, when you were looking for something? May be it was a set of keys, or a job, may be even a relationship, searching requires time and focus, it requires effort on our part. The Lord is daily and diligently searching, and just as we are looking for something of value to us so is He.

So what is it that He is actively searching for? Unlike most of our searching that is external the Lord is daily searching the hearts of people throughout the earth and His searching is an internal one. Remember what the Lord said to Samuel the prophet as Samuel considered anointing David’s brother as the next king. I Samuel 16:7 “Do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the HEART”. In King David’s charge to his son Solomon in I Chronicles 28 he says “acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches EVERY HEART and understands every motive behind the thoughts..”. Scripture reminds us that the Lord is constantly searching the hearts of people to see the motives, the thoughts, the attitudes and desires hidden inside.  Hebrews 4:13 reminds us that “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”  Who we seek and who our hearts are committed to reveals several things:

• RELATIONSHIP

The first thing that is revealed in this passage is our relationship and we are confronted with the question, “How is your heart in
relationships?” We have a loving Father who longs to have a good relationship with us, God longs to have a strong relationship with those whose hearts are committed and loyal to Him. In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus summed up the whole law when He said “Love God and love people” that concept of loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves is certainly not the way of the world. The way of the world is, I am number one and I am going to look out for me, everyone else can look out for themselves. As for God and His ways well if it is convenient I will fit Him into my schedule, after all God helps those who help themselves right? Wrong God helps those who can’t help themselves but repent and cry out to Him for help. We come into right relationship with God when we believe in and trust in Jesus and His finished work on the cross. God desires for us to experience that right relationship and we must be prepared to be fully committed to him.  The same goes for our earthly relationships it requires commitment and loyalty for them to work. How do you shape up are you fully committed to a right relationship with God Father, Son and Holy Spirit and are you fully committed to a right relationship with those around you, your neighbors? Are there trust issues in your relationships that are holding you back? What is holding you back from a commitment to right relationships?