The Backup of Heaven

Ryan Peña

2 Chron 16:9a
9 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.
NKJV

Before we look deeper into this verse, we must see that the Lord is in search of something.  To search for something is usually an indication that it is in short supply.  Yet, as the Spirit of Truth increases in our lives, we will experience a devotion to the King more and more.  As this occurs I believe the Lord will not merely find a few people who meet His search criteria in 2 Chronicles 16:9, but a whole generation that will be loyal to Him.

In looking at this verse we must dig a little deeper for its understanding.  The word “loyal” here literally means complete, full or whole.  In essence He is looking for a heart completely or fully His.  A totally surrendered heart is like a rare gem that the Lord searches for intently.  Why? Because it is the same heart the Father found in the Son.  Jesus states in John 8:29 that He always did those things that pleased the Father.  What a powerful statement.

We may say, “Well, that was Jesus.” Yet, Paul tells us in Colossians 1:9-10 that we too can actually walk “fully pleasing Him.”  Imagine, coming to a place of devotion and surrender where we only do that which pleases Him and not us.  In reality why did Jesus die and resurrect?  Was it only to offer forgiveness (which is extremely powerful and wonderful)? Being forgiven is only the first step in the process.  His sacrifice and resurrection was also to produce many more just like Him (see John 12:24). 

Jesus died as a seed to have a harvest after Him that would demonstrate the same virtues, qualities and DNA as the original seed.  In other words, we are called to resemble and function just like the seed we came from.  Barley does not grow from grains of wheat.  A seed multiplies exact copies of itself when its outer shell dies and the life within emerges. We are not only called to operate like Jesus in the realm of signs and wonders, but also in a life that is wholly yielded to the Father’s desires.

Next, we see what the Lord will do when He finds this type of yielded heart.  The phrase “He will show Himself strong” also has the meaning “to support strongly”.  How awesome is that! The Lord wants to strongly support those who are completely His!  In other words, this is when heaven has your back.  How could Jesus make statements like, “go your way, you’re healed,” or, “take up your mat and walk,” without even praying for the person?  One reason was Heaven backed up or fully supported His surrendered heart.

The backup or support of heaven is not limited to those who are in what we call “full time ministry”.  Nor is it restricted to the “five-fold” ministry.  Heaven will fully support anyone who chooses to lay down his or her life, heart and desires for the purpose of fully yielding unto the Spirit. 

Another way to measure surrender is responsiveness.  The Lord responds to those who respond to Him.  Song of Solomon 5 gives the account of the bride who was awake in bed, but non-responsive to the voice of the Bridegroom.  Like many of us she heard His voice and was even awake, but lacked the proper response.  A yielded heart is a responsive heart.  It would have been a tragedy if Moses would not have turned aside (responded) to see the flame in the midst of bush.  Notice the wording of the passage:

Ex 3:2-4
 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!"
NKJV

The Lord responded to Moses’ response.  Many of us love the Lord, but we remain in a lukewarm condition due to our unresponsive nature.  A surrendered heart will respond to the Lord when He awakens us at 3am or prompts us to pray for someone in the aisle of the grocery store.  We will respond to the Spirit’s slightest whisper just as quickly as we would a roar from heaven.

In looking at 2 Chronicles 16:9a, we cannot limit this verse to the Lord only looking for a yielded heart.  Though this is true, we must also see that He is searching for someone He can back up.  It encourages my heart to think that He is hungry to fully support somebody.  There is a deep desire in His heart to fully demonstrate His power and heavenly resources through people.  Heaven desires to be unleashed on the earth and to do it through man.  The requirement is surrender.

If there is one gift we must ask for and possess in this hour it is a heart yielded unto Him.  The greatest leaders in the days to come will not be those with the best preaching skills or organizational methods. Rather, the greatest leaders are those who have learned to be the greatest followers of the Holy Spirit.  The Father will look upon us as He did with Jesus and fully support us with an invasion of heaven on earth.