God Is Looking For Someone

by Chris Simmons

King Asa reigned for 41 years in Judah following the wicked leadership of Kings Rehoboam and Abijam. For the most part, he was a good king as it was said of him that he “did good and right in the sight of the Lord his God” (II Chronicles 14:2) and that he was “wholly devoted to the Lord” (I Kings 15:14). He ensured that a lot of sin and wickedness was removed from the land (I Kings 15:12) and, early on, relied upon the Lord to help him fight his battles. For example, in II Chronicles 14:9 we read how that Zerah and the Ethiopians came against him in battle and before engaging them, he turned to God for help and said, “Lord, there is no one besides Thee to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in Thee, and in Thy name have come against this multitude. O Lord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail against Thee” (II Chronicles 14:11). At this point in his life, King Asa viewed God as his only source of help in battle and God rewarded his faith by giving him the victory. Having achieved victory through God’s help, surely Asa would continue to rely solely upon God all the days of his life.

Such however was not the case, for in the 36th year of his reign, he found himself involved once again preparing for a battle – this time against Baasha, King of Israel. At this point in his life, instead of turning to God, he turned to Ben-hadad king of Aram for his help and sent him the “silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house” (II Chronicles 16:2) to buy his favor to help in his battle against Israel. After Israel ceased in their preparations to fight against Judah, God sent Hanani the seer to King Asa to tell him in II Chronicles 16:7-9, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.” God reproved Asa for his lack of faith in God and told him that God is looking for the man “whose heart is completely His” so that He might “strongly support” him. King Asa’s heart no longer belonged completely to God but was divided by his trust in human strength and wisdom.

God today is looking for someone whose heart completely is devoted to God. God expects and deserves that we “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). When we face daunting problems and challenges in our life, will we turn to human wisdom or strength or to the physical things of life for our solutions and answers? Do we look to the things of this life or to our human relationships to provide our meaning and satisfaction in life and the edge we need to overcome?

Like King Asa, God desires that we turn to Him in prayer and bury our heads in His book when we are looking for help in our battles.

Who else is God looking for besides someone “whose heart is completely His”?

God is looking for someone who will do what’s right even when no one else is. The prophet Ezekiel describes a time when the prophets, the priests, the princes, and all of the people of the land had resorted to violence and oppression, blurred any difference between “the holy and the profane,” and valued lies above the truth (Ezekiel 22:23-29). With such wickedness running rampant, verse 30 says, “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” God looked for that someone who would stand up for what’s right and be that preserving influence amongst His people. God is looking for someone today to “stand in the gap” and be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-16) in spite of the great wickedness and sin all around us. Will He find someone?

God is looking for someone who loves truth. During Jeremiah’s days, God challenged the prophet to, “Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and look now, and take note. And seek in her open squares, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her” (Jeremiah 5:1). God is looking for someone today who loves truth and wants what is right. Apostasy from the Lord is driven by those who do not have a love for truth (II Thessalonians 2:10). We are exhorted to value truth above all else (Proverbs 23:23) and not to rely on our own wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

God is also looking for someone who is willing to change and repent. Again in Jeremiah chapter 5, he continues in verses 2-3 to say, “And although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely. O Lord, do not Thine eyes look for truth? Thou hast smitten them, but they did not weaken; Thou hast consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.” If we love truth, it is inevitable that at some time we are going to have to come face to face with the need to change and repent and God is looking for someone who is willing to do that. As Micky has often said, when someone who is honestly mistaken is presented with the truth, they will either stop being honest or stop being mistaken – no matter what the cost.

Finally, God is simply looking for someone who is willing to recognize Him as the Creator of all things and give Him the reverence due Him. David wrote in Psalms 14:1-3, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” God is looking for someone who will recognize the evidence of His “eternal power and divine nature” which Paul says “have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made” and is committed to giving the honor and thanks due to Him (Romans 1:20-21).

God is looking for someone to strongly support who will be wholly devoted to Him, who will do what’s right when no one else will, who will love truth and repent when needed, and who will give Him the honor and glory He deserves as our Creator … will He find him?