2 Chronicles 16:9
“The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose heart are fully committed to Him.”
One of the pitfalls of any leadership position is prideful self-reliance. By that I mean, we cease relying on the wisdom, guidance, and strength from the Lord and arrogantly try to handle things on our own. This, of course, is a dangerous way to think. But we usually don’t start thinking like this overnight. Self-reliance often creeps into our lives so slowly, so subtly, that we don’t even notice.
2 Chronicles 15:1-2
Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. 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.
Asa was responsible for leading the southern kingdom of Judah through a turbulent time in its history. On the whole, he is remembered as a king whose “heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life”
2 Chronicles 15:17 But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
But toward the end of his reign, he stepped into the pitfall of prideful self-reliance. Facing war with the northern kingdom of Israel, Asa decided to rely on “the king of Aram and not on the Lord” The prophet, Hanai, boldly confronts Asa’s choice telling him, “he has done a foolish thing” Hanai clarifies exactly what God is looking for.
2 Chronicles 16:9
“The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose heart are fully committed to Him.”
“The Lord scours the earth for people whose hearts fully rely on Him”.
Right now, the Lord isn’t searching for the most attractive, most intelligent, or most talented among us, He’s selecting a spiritual filled man or women. What the Lord is looking for is a heart that loves Him, and is surrendered to His will and is passionate about His purposes. He’s looking for people who remain humbly aware of their constant need for Him and seek His face in all situations.
He’s looking for men and women who resist their natural inclination towards self-reliance and choose God-reliance instead. And when the Lord finds these types of individuals, He is eager to shower them with His strength and enable them to do His work.
Blinded by self-reliance, King Asa missed an opportunity to see God’s strength and power on display. And if it can happen to Asa, it can happen to us too. His life serves as a warning that we must vigilantly guard our hearts against self-reliance.
As author C.S. Lewis reminds us, “relying on God has to begin all over again every day, as if nothing had yet been done.”
The good news is that where King Asa failed, King Jesus succeeded. He is the only one whose heart was perfectly committed to His Father. We can’t BE Jesus, but we can strive to be LIKE Him in our love and dependence on the Father.
What about you? Do you want the eyes of the Lord to find you drifting towards self-reliance?
Let’s profess our utter dependence on Him today and every day.
God Bless you,
Israel