I want to scream!!!
But what I need to do is "rent my heart."
As I turn on the news (which I did yesterday for the first time in months, though I follow some through my computer), as I listen to many of the political voices, as I watch even the most innocent TV programming like HGTV or RFDTV, as I listen to TV preachers and their Facebook posts, as I watch even my friends' Facebook posts, and even as I listen to my own mind at times, I just want to scream! I want to jump in front of people (including myself at times) and scream "Stop it! You are SO out of perspective!!!" And sadly, I see this even for so much of the current day "Christian" community. I must restrain myself from going around all day critically slamming the insane words that I keep hearing. It's all I can do to keep my mouth shut! And yes, I get frustrated with the voice in my own mind as well!
And this issue isn't always that what they (we) are saying is totally wrong. Some of it has a form of truth, (a form of godliness?? 2 Tim 3:5) though so often completely out of context or perspective. The problem is that it's focus is so very often wrong. So much of it is about SELF, about what WE want, about OUR needs, about OUR blessings, about OUR situation turning around. That's NOT our call! That's NOT what our focus it supposed to be! Our focus is supposed to be death to self, and brokenness to self. And a reverence for Holy God. A "what do YOU desire OF me?" Not, "What can I get FROM you?" It's a very sad fact that many of us have made our faith all about US. The wife of the leading TV ministry even says that our faith isn't about God, it's about us. And the "preacher's messages" speak essentially the same thing. Are you kidding me?!!! THAT is our problem!!!
What can we do? I believe that we must take our eyes and ears off of everything else but God. And that includes many who claim to speak His Word. And then get on our faces before Holy God and get in His Word and die to our desires and get broken to self and alive to Him. I'm not talking about getting excited. Getting excited is mostly just about getting excited. I'm talking about getting right with God. I'm talking about a whole other level of sincerity and time with Him and I'm talking about closing the door on the input from the sources that are drawing us away from our call to broken yieldedness to Him. I'm talking about truly getting intimate with Christ and making Him our singular heart-wrenching focus! We need to burn all the books about being "called to be blessed" and "called to be an example by our level of blessing" and about "called to be happy" and then we need to get on our knees and read the Book about "called to be Holy" and "called to be HIS." And as a secondary effect, we'll get happy and we'll get blessed!!! But our focus is HIM!!!!
And I am responsible for it to happen with ME!!!!
Joel 2: 12-13b
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments."
(all of Joel 2 is worth a read as it talks about the dangers of not doing so and the potential blessings of doing so. Numerous other Scriptures apply to this topic as well)
