“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart are completely His” (II Chronicles 16:9).
I believe that some Christians pray in way that is an attempt to overcome reluctance in God. Never quite sure if God truly wants to bless them and meet their needs, spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Over the years I have discovered that there is not a reluctant bone in God’s body (in a manner of speaking). Scripture is filled with the expressions of God’s desires to bless His children as they walk with Him and seek His ways.
The passage above is my favorite verse in the Old Testament. It is an incredible statement that reverses the playing field in regards to us seeking God. Here, the seeker is God! Allow me to break this sentence down for you. If I were back in Filer Junio High School, attending Mrs. Hugh’s eighth grade English class, she would have us standing before the blackboard diagraming this sentence. This is one sentence that truly comes alive when we break it down and consider its constituent elements.
God is searching, His eyes are moving to and fro across the landscape of the earth. For what is He searching? Men and women, boys, and girls whose hearts are sold out for Him. Or as the hymn Channels Only states it, “Hearts that full surrender know.” And when He finds them? He promises to surround their lives with His strong support.
Imagine, God in your corner, protecting you, guiding you, providing for you, lending you His strong support in all of your endeavors. I don’t know what that sounds like to you, but I want to get in on that offer.
Through the Prophet Jeremiah, God revealed the intentions of His heart when He said, “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). In The Message, a paraphrased edition of the Old Testament, this verse says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
Do you sense any reluctance in that verse?
Two verses in Deuteronomy 28 that carry this same sense of God’s willingness to bless if we will but walk with Him. “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord you God, being careful to do His commandments, the Lord God will set you on high and all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you will obey the Lord your God” (vs. 1 & 2).
What I see in this verse God saying, if you walk with Me, if you will endeavor to obey Me, then, just try and get out of the way of My blessing. For My blessings will run you down and overtake you. Any reluctance there?
The bottom line is this, God is for us! He is constantly seeking to bless His children. And, when He finds hearts that are completely His, completely sold out for Him, He promises to surround them with His strong support.
I have now served my Lord for fifty-two years and have experienced the promise of II Chronicles 16:9 time and time and time again. So with the Apostle Paul, I proclaim, “For I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to keep everything that I have committed to Him until that day” (II Timothy 1:12).
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