Part two this short little four part series help us see our individual need for broken heart before God. Part One was the ntroduction "If It Ain't Broken Than Fix It". Follow along as we look at three steps toward brokenness before God.
Psalms 51:16-17 "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. {17} The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
I recently watched a documentary on the wild horses on the plains of the west that are being rounded up and placed in pens because there are so many growing herds of wild horses that there is not enough vegetation to sustain them. Sad as that is, it was even worse to see where they were kept. Wild horses kept in small pens where they ran in circles desiring to be free to roam wherever they pleased. It made me remember the stories I have seen of the breaking of wild stallions into manageable horses that can be ridden. It takes time to properly break a horse's free will to trust the rider. There are two ways it can be done – the cowboy can forcefully break the will of the horse or the cowboy can spend time caring, caressing, coercing and patiently building trust between horse and rider.
In the former, the horse fears the rider and punishment for not conforming. In the latter, the horse builds positive feelings of trust and security to be taught and trained by the one whom he has grown to trust.
In that same way – so often we see God as this eternal being that desires to break our spirit and will to forcibly, through fear, bring us to obedience. However, I want to submit that when we see God in this way, we begin to behave as though our actions are the primary means of pleasing God. NOT SO! God is more interested in our heart, will and devotion to Him rather than the outward actions. Oh wait, though – don't misunderstand: the outward actions come but they come as a result of proper motives – from a heart that is in a right place of security and trust in the hands of an Almighty God.
As Psalm 51 indicates – the real pleasure for God comes in a broken spirit and heart. Not one that He has to break but one that is presented to Him willingly broken. Step ONE of fixing something that is not broken: Destroy your self will.
Stop saying "I can't" or "I won't". Take Isaiah's approach in Isaiah 6:8 after he saw God and knew that he was ruined as a result of seeing the holy God. When the seraphim touched his lips with a coal and made him clean God spoke to him… "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Look at Isaiah's response:
No stubbornness
No self-will
No anger or frustration.
Simple submission to what God wanted. Immediate obedience regardless of what he wanted.
What have you read or heard from the Word of God recently? Did you let it change you? Did you obey it without question?
What has the spirit been prompting you to do lately? Have you submitted? Have you responded with obedience regardless of your will?
We can destroy our own will as we choose to immediately obey the will of God as we see it and as the Spirit prompts us. Ask God to help pulverize and demolish your own will and replace it with obedience to His will!
No comments:
Post a Comment