An Irresistible Heart
If you put in the work, then you’ll reap the reward. The harder you try, the better shot you have at success. If it is to be, then it is up to me. These are a few sayings our culture preaches incessantly. They work great because there is some truth in these words and they are key ingredients to sign us up for the rat race of life. Sifting out our culture in regards to how we relate to the Lord is one of the more challenging tasks we encounter in our walks with God.
My time as a baseball player taught me an unending list of life lessons that I’ve taken with me off the field. One thing athletics engrains in you at a young age is the importance of performance. At the end of the day, that’s what sports are – performances. The better you do the more you play – so be better. This reality, understandably, creeps into the psyche of athletes. What I wasn’t prepared for was the extent to which my view of sports would affect my view of life, my view of the Lord.
Growing up in a world that was consumed with performance made the idea of grace (a free gift that I don’t deserve) pretty confusing. I could define the word, but believing in the word was a whole new ball game, no pun intended. It wasn’t until after my playing days were over that I began to realize how much my time as an athlete had informed my view of the Lord. And there were things that I needed to revisit.
I was always diligent, even from a young age, to pray and to have quiet times with the Lord. I believed in Him, yes. But His love being a free gift was something I didn’t even have a remote grasp for. A mistake during the day would bring feelings of shame and loneliness. I thought I’d have to wait until the following day to have an honest conversation with the Lord because of some disobedience I had stepped in to. Suddenly, this free gift of grace and love that God offers had turned into me actually be in control. His love was available to me when I did well and when I performed poorly during my day, His love would leave until the next morning.
I wonder if any of you can relate to this – bringing perfectionism into your walks with the Lord. God’s love, in my mind, began to feel unattainable. The funny thing is, His love was never something that could be attained in the first place – it was simply given for those willing to receive. Again, I knew these words, but my actions and my thoughts were showing that I was trying to earn and even manipulate the love of the Lord. As I’m sure you can tell, this doesn’t work.
I was reminded the other day of a verse that has brought me an incredible degree of hope. It’s found in the Psalms. And let me just drop a plug here, spend time in the Psalms. Whether you are on the mountaintop of overwhelming joy or in the valley of lament, the Psalms are free prayers written by believers of the past and preserved for our good today. Pray them over yourself and let them teach you that it’s not just OK to be intimately honest with God, but that’s exactly what He’s desiring from you!
The verse was this from Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” The Message translation says it this way, “Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.”
God is leading us on a journey to the end of ourselves. Our culture, our experiences in this world, lead us to believe that we must earn what we get. That we have to carry that burden ourselves. God is working to weed this out of our hearts. He’s leading us to the end of ourselves. He desires us to come to our knees before Him, open-handedly expressing we can’t live up to the standard of perfection. It’s a heart that’s in this place that God literally can’t refuse. It’s at the end of ourselves that God sees clay matured, watered, and ready to be molded.
I don’t know about you, but this has brought me immense encouragement. It’s not up to me. I need to get out of the way and simply let go and allow God to work in my life. This is true for you too. Regardless of where you are on your journey, hear this friend, God is after you. He desires your whole heart. This is no easy task, but it’s the absolute best thing for us. It all begins by confessing our need for the Lord. So, if you don’t know where to start – start there. Do you find yourself broken-hearted? Be encouraged, what great news! Your heart is in a place that’s irresistible to the Lord. If this is you, read through Psalm 86 and pray those words over yourself – He’s ready to meet you today.
