My words have not been right lately. I have been short-tempered, prideful, and questioning. My words are a reflection of my heart. My heart has been experiencing shame.
My heart needs to change.
Not temporary or surface level change, but deep heart-felt change.
Recently I received some email communication from someone I have not communicated with since May 2009. Their communication contained something that caught me by surprise and I did not interpret part of it correctly so did not respond as well as I wish I had responded. Their second message said they had hoped that I had been “set free” this past year, but it was clear I was still working through some things. There was a part of me that felt justified that I had reason to still be working through issues as things are not yet resolved with my last church, but deep down what really bothered me was that this person had seen something I had not seen, even after all these months of hard work. When I stopped to look, I realized they were addressing something in my heart and attitude that needed to change.
Today I finally had the time to work on that with God.
Correction, today I finally had the courage to let God work on me.
Often we know when something is not quite right in our heart. We may avoid it, deny it, reject it, or twist it, but we are still aware it there. I have known recently that things were not completely right in my relationship with God, but I did not know what to do about it. Yesterday the weight of it became heavy and I knew I needed to change. I knew it was time to look at what lay underneath. However, I also knew that I couldn’t change anything. All I could do was to let go, to open myself up to God, and to trust that he would lead me.
So, this morning before I even started the day and moved from bed I laid my heart bare. I surrendered and let go of all plans, all desires, all expectations. I asked with a sincere heart for the Lord to change me and to reveal what I needed to know.
Today has been an amazing day.
The Lord waits for us to come to him.
He is always ready. He will always respond and will not fail us.
That doesn’t mean we will get the desires of our heart or he will answer how we want him to, but he will respond.
Like David, I became aware of my sin, and I cried out for him to change me. (Psalm 51)
Like Paul, my heart grew and my desires are changing so that I am drawn to be like Christ, even in his sufferings (Phil. 3)
This song holds a lot of truth, and it reminds us that the heart, our heart, is the key to our relationship with the Lord.
We can’t change it, but he can change us on the inside. It is our heart that needs to change.
I long for freedom to live in the truth I want to be more like you But every time I try to bring about change I try to change the visible me There's only one way I'm really gonna change… Just like King David I cry out to you Create in me a clean heart I've grieved you again, I need your release From patterns that keep me is sin There's only one way I can finally break free Change me on the inside Change me on the inside Change me on the inside
God isn’t finished with me yet. There are still areas of my heart I need to let go of, but today as we celebrate America’s independence I am also celebrating the freedom I have from sin, from bondage, from chains of falsehood and deception. I am celebrate that the Lord has changed me from the inside and he will change me even more. I long for freedom to live in the the truth, and I know the only way to break free and really change is by having the Lord change me, from the inside!
Restoring The Heart 