In the previous post we learned about God’s desperate desire to reveal His heart to His children. Now the question is how do we on our part seek after Him? How do we become a man (or woman) after God’s heart?
Your brokenness is precious to God
I don’t have a long list of dos and don’ts for this, but here is what David, a man after God’s own heart, had to say in Psalms 51:17 –
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
God is yet to deny a broken and repentant heart! In other words, if you want to draw near to God’s heart, know that your brokenness and repentance will hold the key.
Isn’t it interesting? The biggest love story – between God and man – at one point ended up with brokenness and regret in Genesis 6:6, and that’s exactly where we find the Spirit of God leading us to.
Mind you, this brokenness and repentance is not to be thought of in the ways of the world – in fact it is something that the world may never understand.
Brokenness
Exodus 20:25 gives God’s clear instructions about making the altar of sacrifice for Him:
If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.
Our heart is the altar of God. Sadly in pursuing God somewhere down the line we have allowed the world to chisel our altars. We have lived lives of compromise trying to ‘fit in’ our society, friends circle, and church setting.
“If I don’t lower God’s standards, I will not fit in the world.”
We are not content with the way our hearts have been created and all the time we are trying to show the world that we are similar to you. We have even abused the grace of God to please our flesh.
And then, we wonder why the fire of God is not falling on our sacrifices; Why signs and wonders stand so aloof from us; Why the Kingdom of God is all about talk and no power.
Beloved, you and I are not called to conform to the world but to be set apart for His glory.
I believe the pursuit of God’s heart begins with brokenness. Brokenness to realise how messed up we are, how adulterated our motives are.
Can you hear God’s heart as you read this : “Child, I don’t need you to chisel yourself. That will all be works. I need you to fall into my hands of grace, that I may shape you and break you so your heart becomes a reflection of mine.”
Oh, how we need brokenness!
