This passage occurs during the reign of King Asa the third King in Judah, the grandson of Solomon. Asa had a heart of worship and was one of the godliest and dedicated King of Judah. When he became king he sought to destroy all the idols that were in Judah. This was pleasing to God and Asa was blessed as God delivered Him from his enemies. Asa had peace for most of his reign. Asa’s heart was “perfect” towards God.
In the latter part of his reign, Asa’s heart turned away from God, when he sought advice from the King of Assyria concerning the war. His decision was a foolish one and was henced faced with war for the rest of his reign- the very thing he wanted to avoid. II Chronicles 16 9c – Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
God is looking for those with a “perfect” heart toward Him. The word “perfect” here does not mean sinless, instead it means a renewed heart that is loyal and obedient to God. Being loyal means that regardless of what is going on in our life, we will remain firm in our trust and belief of God and His word. We will seek to always advance His cause above ours. In addition being obedient to God involves total obedience to everything that God requires of us. We cannot choose to be obedient to the things that we like or the ones that seem easy to do and then discard the requests that we do not like or seem more difficult to keep.
As mothers we are not exempt, we need to also seek out other mothers and children less fortunate than we are and extend to them this good news. They need to know that they do not have to remain in captivity by their situation, and staying in self- imposed prisons when the doors were already left wide open by Jesus Christ. We need to let them know that the shackles of shame, depression and low self -esteem have all been loosed and they are no longer bound.
Remember that God wants to show His-self strong on our behalf. He wants to be there to fight our battles, to walk with us when we go through many difficult situations, and when the need arises to carry us. Will you be that person that God is looking for?