Loyal heart

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

II Chronicles 16:9 

The above verse is such an encouraging and uplifting bible verse. It uplifts the weak and encourages the disheartened. It gives hope that my God is a God who sees way more than a telescope or any satellite can see. Recently I was reading about a satellite that can capture images beyond the walls. But here is my God whose eyes captures the whole earth, beyond anything and everything. But whom does His eyes see?

His eyes are earnestly seeking a loyal heart. That really made me think. It made me think what I am in my Savior’s eyes? When His eyes search for a loyal heart, do I enlist in the search result?

To understand what a loyal heart is when we need to read the background of this verse and we come across a not so familiar character - king Asa. It's so amazing that these not so famous characters in the Bible teaches us so many practical lessons which are still applicable hundreds of decades later. 

The very first thing we read about king Asa -

 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God

II Chronicles 14:2 

Asa the great-grandson of King Solomon is an example of one who sought God and trusted in God alone for most of his life. As every Christian, he started off with much zeal and enthusiasm. He removed all the sinful things which was not right in the eyes of his God. He sought God and obeyed His commandments. Hence God gave him rest and he had no wars. But very soon Asa was faced with a big trial in his life. When everything was going so smooth and all was at rest, suddenly king Asa is faced with a stronger and a powerful enemy. He could have thought why Lord? why this trial when I am doing everything right in your sight? He could have doubted God's goodness in allowing adversity in his life. But these trials in a Christian life is to test the faith of a believer and to bring him to a state where his true reliance is revealed. How did Asa respond to the big trial of his life?

Asa responded to the big trial of his life with much prayer and faith. He acknowledged God's power to help in any circumstances whether with many or with none beside him. He relied on God and only on God's strength. He realized that the almighty Lord of hosts is His God and he doesn't need to worry. No man, no army, no power of Satan is ever going to prevail against the almighty God. 

Our helpless state forces us to depend on God. Our weakness is an opportunity for God to show His strength on our behalf. 

So, the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army.

II Chronicles 14:13

Through his faith, reliance on God and prayer Asa got victory over the big trial of his life. He was not alone to fight the battle, the Lord and His army fought for him.

Often after a great spiritual victory there are chances of getting proud, hence God gives a warning message to Asa to keep him at bay. 

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.

II Chronicles 15:2 

Asa very well received the message and brought a great revival in Judah where everybody made a covenant to seek God with all their heart. 

As you go through the story of Asa you feel so good that he turned out to be such a godly king. But no one can imagine that the one who started off so well his spiritual race, who brought such a great revival in Judah ended up so tragically. Towards the end of his life, he fell from his first love. Asa did not persevere to the end; therefore, God severely punished and killed him. 

How did Asa come to such a sorry end? 

We read in 2 Chronicles 16 that Baasha king of Israel came against Judah and built Ramah. Ramah was a city or fortress to hinder the people of Judah to travel to Jerusalem to worship or let me say like this Ramah is anything in our life which hinders us from being in the presence of God.

Asa presumed this trial to be a smaller trial and decided to deal with it on his own. He relied on his own wealth and on king of Syria to stop king Basha from building Ramah. Though his plan succeeded, God was displeased. God is displeased when He is distrusted, and when an arm of flesh is relied on, more than his power and goodness. "It is foolish to lean on a broken reed, when we have the Rock of ages to rely upon”. (Mathew Henry).

Even after such a great beginning, such a great revival, such great spiritual victory, King Asa could not persevere till the end. That really scares me. It warns me how much I must be vigilant to finish the race well. In Spurgeons words- the greatest faith of yesterday will not give us confidence for to-day, unless the fresh springs which are in God shall overflow again. We may have the grace of God in our earliest days, but unless we have day by day fresh help from on high, dead flies may pollute the ointment and spoil the sweet odour of our lives. Though we may have been kept in the ways of the Lord, as Asa was, for fifty or sixty years, yet if left by the Master for a single moment we shall bring discredit upon his Holy name. 

Christian walk is not an occasional walk with God but a daily walk. It's not an occasional feeding of the soul but a daily feeding. If I stop feeding the soul it will get weak and drift away from God. In any race the beginning and the end has to be good along with keeping the good pace throughout the race. Finishing off well is the most important aspect of any race. 

So, coming back to the question why did king Asa come to such a sorry end?

The one reason God gave - His heart became disloyal. That made me understood what a loyal heart is? Loyal heart is a heart that takes God's path and not its own. A loyal heart is a heart that relies on God's strength than its own. A loyal heart is a heart that seeks God help first when trials hits the life rather than searching the contacts on WhatsApp. A loyal heart is a heart that trusts God not only with the big but also with the trivial daily trials of life. Recently I heard a sermon in our church about loyalty- A loyal heart is a heart that stays with God, follows God just like Ruth who stayed loyal to Naomi, followed her where she went.

May God help us to have a loyal heart. May we take our big as well as small daily battles to the Lord first, trusting on His strength alone. May God help us to finish off our spiritual race well.