To Show Himself Strong

2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars."

Sometimes you'll hear people saying that God desires to answer our prayers, that He wants to be seen as powerful in our lives. While many of us know this intellectually, few of us truly know this experientially. Something in the back of our mind tells us this can't be true. A lingering doubt asks, "How could God actually care that much?"

While that doubt poisons our potential as servants of God, we happily accept that Jesus Christ died a horrible death on the cross, taking all our sins on Himself to save us from Hell. If one is believable, why not the other?

Perhaps it's that little word "perfect" used to describe a heart. That word scares us because we see who and what we are. But so does God. And He loves us the same. The Hebrew word translated "perfect" means "full, complete." God wants our hearts to be fully His, completely toward Him. This does not mean that we never fall, but it means that anytime we do fall (and we will fall) we will fall while we're pursuing Him. And after we fall, we rise back up by His grace and continue on our way, basking in His mercy, love, and forgiveness.

Do I believe, today, right now, that God Himself is longing to show Himself strong on my behalf? Is my heart fully toward God, completely His? What is holding me back from arriving there? Is it worth the inability to see God work powerfully on my behalf?