Renovating our Hearts

The greatest life is the life most surrendered.

God is in the business of heart renovation. It's His speciality. Look at Saul the Church hater who became Paul, the Church builder; bratty little Joseph who became a wise, tempered governor of a powerful nation in its darkest hour; brash, impetuous Peter who became a highly respected Church leader. God can take broken, imperfect individuals and mold them into honored vessels of glory and power.

He is looking everyday to do something in our hearts: a word here, a warning there, wisdom here, a rebuke there. He allows circumstances to toughen us, to break down our pride and misconceptions; He lets us make mistakes so that in our brokenness we can see our limitations and in consequence, His greatness.

We get warped by this world, bent, twisted and stretched by our experiences and hurts - but just as He knew how to knit us together in our mother's womb (Psa 139:13), He knows how to put you right again. The question is - how much will you let Him?

Clay is malleable and soft in the Potter's hand when it is well watered and yields to His touch. The Bible tells us that the Word of God cleanses us and washes us (Eph 5:26; John 15:3). Are you receiving God's Word into your life? That little niggly feeling you've been having about your attitude towards that person -- are you pushing it away and making excuses, or are you listening? Or that time you read something in the Bible but thought it couldn't possibly apply to you because it was too hard to change? Are you saying - oh, that's someone else's problem! But not stopping to see if you have any of it yourself? Are you seeing the beggar on the road and feeling a twinge as you look away?

The Word of God causes us to look inside us and reflect on what we see. Our natural reaction is to tear ourselves down -- but did you know that that's not your job? Your job is to bow to the touch of your Maker. His touch might be painful, but it is healing - like the scalpel in the hands of a skilful surgeon. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). So don't go do the devil's job and start condemning yourself. You don't need to help him.

When God illuminates something in your life, it might be difficult to realise how ugly it is -- but in my experience, God's rebukes are incredibly gracious (we could learn so much from Him in this area!) - but so direct. They pierce like an arrow through any excuses you might want to try!

When we surrender to God's touch and Word in our lives, it makes room for Him to remove the junk and build quality, lasting attributes into your heart that make you more complete, more beautiful. When we let God take over, we are allowing His bigness to fill our lives so that our influence, the work of our hands becomes greater than ourselves.

When we surrender to God's touch, we cease reigning over our badly managed lives and let God restore order, wholeness, power. We weren't made to rule over ourselves the way God wants to -- any attempt on our part will always end in disaster. We just aren't up to it. That throne in your heart belongs to God. It's when we relinquish it to Him that we can truly be what we were created for.

The greatest life is the life most surrendered. May we always choose to heed His voice.