"Thus saith the Lord...I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears..." Isaiah 38:5
I hope we do not fall into the foul snare of seeing prayer as mere sober petition. We can act sometimes like our emotions will hinder His presence, or drive Him away completely. "If I am not strong and stable when I talk to God, then He will not listen." If you are strong and stable, then why are you talking to Him? What was true of salvation is true throughout our entire lives: you are not to fix yourself up before you come to God, namely because you cannot fix yourself up. You are to come to Him as you are: fearful, emotional, doubting, angry, and all around broken. Run to Him with your burdens; your tears are not an offense to Him.
It is a lie that levity has nothing to do with God's Spirit. In His presence is the fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). God's presence is not a joke, but it most certainly is not deadness either, and too often what passes for "holy sobriety" is merely a self-righteous mask meant to cover true sincerity. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," and He does not despise such things (Psalm 51:17). People seem to miss that, of all places, the presence of God is where you can (and should) be real: openly, nakedly real. All your attempts to cover your joys and sorrows merely hinder you from knowing fully the intimate communion of God.
"In Your Presence
There is Mercy,
A place for my fears,
Joys and my tears,
And You despise none of them..."
-Jon Vowell
I hope we do not fall into the foul snare of seeing prayer as mere sober petition. We can act sometimes like our emotions will hinder His presence, or drive Him away completely. "If I am not strong and stable when I talk to God, then He will not listen." If you are strong and stable, then why are you talking to Him? What was true of salvation is true throughout our entire lives: you are not to fix yourself up before you come to God, namely because you cannot fix yourself up. You are to come to Him as you are: fearful, emotional, doubting, angry, and all around broken. Run to Him with your burdens; your tears are not an offense to Him.
It is a lie that levity has nothing to do with God's Spirit. In His presence is the fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). God's presence is not a joke, but it most certainly is not deadness either, and too often what passes for "holy sobriety" is merely a self-righteous mask meant to cover true sincerity. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit," and He does not despise such things (Psalm 51:17). People seem to miss that, of all places, the presence of God is where you can (and should) be real: openly, nakedly real. All your attempts to cover your joys and sorrows merely hinder you from knowing fully the intimate communion of God.
"In Your Presence
There is Mercy,
A place for my fears,
Joys and my tears,
And You despise none of them..."
-Jon Vowell
No comments:
Post a Comment