"Now, therefore," says the Lord, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm." Joel 2:12-13 (NKJV)
Repenting is not easy. First, we must admit our sin to ourselves, then be contrite, then confess, then sincerely, reckon with ourselves and truly turn around. We are prone to acknowledge a slight problem, if we can’t ignore it, or cover it up, or deny, or pretend it didn't really happen, or actually hurt anybody, then own up to as little as possible and maybe alter our course enough to appear sincere. God desires and deserves transparency, honesty and forthrightness. The little “sorry” games we play with each other are shallow with God. We must turn to Him, face Him, wholeheartedly with a sacrificial attitude, feeling our failure, and aware of the pain we cause. God wants our hearts to be torn, so we empathize with others personally. Not just on the surface or with lip service, but with heart felt sorrow. God is so kind and long-suffering, it convicts me to repent. I don’t want to be trouble or spread it. I don’t want to avoid my issues and misstep. I must desire to make amends. When I do, God can move and work and bring peace and restoration.
Search your heart today and make amends. Weep a little, mourn some and turn to Him, then you can return to Him. Don’t just go through the motions of repentance, go through the emotions too. He will be there at the pivotal point of sincere turning and returning.
With His grace,
Pastor Fred
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