Repentance

God is calling us to repentance. He is calling us to repentance of our actions and our ways. Jeremiah encouraged the people to reform their ways and their actions (see Jeremiah 7:5). It seems most of our attention is towards trying to change our actions when the Lord is wanting to go much deeper and change our ways.

There are times that we seem to be unable to draw near to God. In these times we often begin to search our lives for sin. Usually we find several sins that could be causing the lack of peace in our spirits. However, there may be times that we have confessed before God all the acts of sin we can think of and still have no peace. The heavens may still seem like brass. We feel unable to penetrate it. We become more frustrated because we don’t know what we have done wrong. We don’t know what to repent of. This is a good time for us to allow the Holy Spirit to show us how to change our ways.

We may be confessing and receiving forgiveness of our actions and still overlooking our ways that need repentance. A good example of this is found in the story of Saul and David. Both were anointed to be King of Israel. Both sinned. David was forgiven, yet Saul was rejected by God. The sins of David included “the big sins” of adultery and murder… but he was forgiven. Psalm 51 is a result of his confession and repentance. The sins of Saul were impatience and trying to please his people. Most of us would have plenty of opinion on whose sins were the worst. However, upon confession and asking of forgiveness, the repentance of Saul was rejected. God must not think like most of us think.

What was the difference? It was a matter of the heart. David sinned, but his heart was after God’s heart. Much like Jesus, David wanted to say what God was saying and he wanted to do what he could see God doing. He hungered deeply to follow the ways of God. Although he messed up big time, his desire was for God‘s desires. To understand Saul’s heart we must look at the story in I Samuel 15. Saul was told to destroy the Amalekites and all that they had. However, after the battle the Israelites destroyed all that was bad and saved all that was good. They even let the king live. They allowed the sheep, oxen, and lambs to live. After all, why would anyone destroy little lambs? Saul proudly announces to the Prophet Samuel that he had obeyed all that God has asked him to do. Samuel hears the bleating of the sheep and asks Saul about it. He responds that the people wanted to keep the good stuff. He explains that even some of the animals could be used for sacrifice unto God. Samuel responds that obedience is better than offering sacrifice. Saul began his repentance. He confessed that he had sinned and asked the Prophet Samuel to go with him to the place of worship so that the people might see them worship together. The Prophet refused to go with him and informed Saul that God had rejected him as king over Israel. However the Prophet Samuel grieved much over God’s rejection of Saul. In this story we see the heart of Saul wanting to please the people more than God. Even in the midst of his repentance, his heart was still concerned with pleasing the people.

Often we are so ready to confess and repent of our actions but do not consider our ways. Scripture tells us that Israel knew the actions of God but Moses knew the ways of God (see Psalms 103:7). We too can know the actions of God by simply reading His book. We also can look around us and see His actions in our lives daily. But, to know the ways of God requires more. We can know the ways of God - He wants to show them to us. But this requires us to know Him intimately. We, just like Jesus must allow the Father to show us what He is doing and allow Him to share with us what He is saying. It is the same principle with sinful actions. Actions are pretty obvious. The law will show us our wrong-doing. Our conscience will usually alert us of our sinful actions… unless it is damaged by continual wrong-doing. Others are often quick to point out our actions that are sinful. So, we have good sources to help us know when our actions are wrong. However, to recognize our wrong ways requires much more examination.

How do we examine our ways? First of all, we can consider some of the foundational ways of God. He is faithful. He honors. He creates and builds up. That’s a few for starters. Now look at our ways. Are we faithful? Do we keep our word to others? Fifty years ago in America a handshake meant something. Does our handshake mean anything? Do we honor God and everyone around us? Are we allowing His creative gifts to flow through us? Are we building up others and what God has ordained? Are we good stewards of what He has given us to occupy and maintain?

A lesson learned from the story of Saul is to examine ourselves to see if we prefer pleasing God or people. People have opinions, suggestions, and preferences. So does God. Sometimes they are oceans apart. God’s ways are higher than the ways of man (see Isaiah 55:9). In our society we are often bombarded by opinions. This can mold us and make us. To please the heart of God we must continually ask for the renewing of our minds. Sometimes we have to erase all of our hard drive and reboot. Holy Spirit needs to reprogram us. Are we willing to allow this process?

The American Church loves to please man. We have countless programs to reach people but few that focus on searching out the heart of God. We love to please others. We are taught to be sensitive to others and to be careful not to offend. What if we are offending God? What if most of our works are birthed out of our own intellect, instead of seeking God’s direction in intimate conversation? What if our good works have not been birthed in the secret place listening to the heart of God?

To me the nightmare of all scriptures is Matthew 7:22-23. It is not a scripture hidden somewhere in the Old Testament. It is in the inaugural address of Jesus. It is in his first sermon…. called the Sermon on the Mount. He tells how there will be those who prophesy, cast out devils, and do many wonderful works. He tells these people to depart from Him because He doesn’t know them. They never entered into the intimate relationship with Him that He requires. There is a relationship that takes us beyond our actions and into seeking the ways of God. There is a passion that comes from the secret place that causes us to want His ways more than our own ways. It burns in us greater than the demand others may put upon us. Jesus followed this radical statement in Matthew 7 with a parable about building on the rock or on the sand. The words and ways of God are Rock solid. The ways, opinions, suggestions, preferences and ideas of man can be compared to sand. They will be washed away.

Another interesting day in the life of Saul is in I Samuel 13 when they are going to battle against another enemy called the Philistines. It was their custom to offer sacrifice to God before going into such a major battle. The Prophet Samuel was the only one authorized to offer such a sacrifice. Samuel was late. Saul noticed that the people were scattering because of the delay. He offered the sacrifice himself. Again, sacrifice unto God is a good thing but it was out of order. Saul was succumbing to the pressure of the actions of the people instead of waiting upon God’s man to get there.

Look at the order of things in this story. The Word is slow coming. The people are impatient. It seems like a good thing to go ahead and do something. How many times have we done exactly the same? We have not waited on the word (direction) of the Lord. People have pressured us with opinions, suggestions and good ideas. We have reacted with something good. We still feel empty and the heavens seem like brass. God’s Presence isn’t with us and we wonder why God has failed us. Maybe we even entertain the thought that God is angry with us. We just can’t figure out why. We are sure we have not done any wrongful actions, and if we have, we have made confession and asked forgiveness. What on earth could be wrong? Our ways are wrong! Repentance can be rejected if we refuse to reform our ways. We will feel a great divide between us and our God. Let’s study the ways of God and align ourselves accordingly even if it’s one way at a time. Let’s examine our hearts and see if there are ways that are unlike His. Let’s ask Holy Spirit to shine upon our ways so that we can see more clearly how to repent.