Why does God tug on hearts… sometimes in opposite directions? It seems one tug must be from God, the other, an illusion of the heart? This has been a mystery to me for years. What if God actually does do the tugging on both ends? What does that say about God? As Christians, it seems we all have our own ideas of what God is asking us to do for Him. Are all of us right? Are all of us wrong? I know it’s not a matter of right or wrong, but sometimes it seems there has to be a concrete truth and either one person or the other is just missing it.
How can God speak to me so clearly and defined about Jesus’ love and grace being the central and only aspect of my faith that actually matters and then, to another Christian, speak just as clearly about other aspects of faith as holding just as much importance? The fact that God is sovereign is my only comfort in this dispute. I could pull out bible verses from all over the Bible to try to prove what I am certain is true. I could tell my testimony about how I was once arrogant about my beliefs and then the Spirit of God humbled me and showed me the way. I could stand strong in my beliefs and argue profusely against any other ideas. But then again, couldn’t someone with the views I would be disputing be able to do the same things? What if it’s not about the doctrine or the manner in which we approach God? What if it’s just about the fact that we do approach him? What if it’s just the posture of the heart that tells whether or not we are actually God’s adopted children? Who can see into our hearts but our Father, our creator? Those who are God’s children inherit more than just eternal life; they inherit the attributes of God himself.
We as people can do many things out of selfish pride and ambition. None of us are good enough motive-readers that we can judge a person’s heart with as much accuracy as God. In many of the stories of Jesus, the people he butted heads with most were the ones who thought that since they did all the things God expected of them, they were righteous even without the awaited savior. Although they were righteous on the outside, their hearts were prideful and self-seeking. We can be fooled quite easily that all that God wants from us is to do “good”. Without the answer to the question, “What is good?” we are left with this standard that absolutely nothing will be good enough for God. Nothing we do, say, or accomplish makes up for the fact that our natural tendency is to serve ourselves. What God really wants is our hearts. He doesn’t want anything from us; he only wants to be with us. He wants us to know Him intimately, because he already knows us and decided we were worth suffering and dying for.
I fall in this category as much as the next person. I want to think “I’m right”. But I’m too aware that a lot of the times, I am not right. All I know is that I don’t have the power to convince anybody of anything that they aren’t open to accept. That is ok. I’ve seen God work many miracles and the only way they are recognized as miracles is when He is recognized for all the glory. Praise God for being the judge and for being truly the only One to reveal truth to our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment