Suzanne and I have a wonderful marriage with plenty of tender moments between us, but believe it or not, we are sometimes at odds with each other because one of us does or says something that is not honoring to the other (audible gasp!).
Just pretending it didn’t happen doesn’t bring us back to the tender, loving place with each other. What does bring us back to the tender places is when one or both of us are willing to understand how our words or actions negatively impacted the other, takes ownership of our part in it, and sincerely asks for forgiveness because of a longing in our hearts to want connection more than we want to hang on to pride.
I share this with you, not primarily to let you know we’re real people just like everybody else, but to paint a picture of what repentance looks like and why it’s such a gift from God to us.
We were all made to have deep connection with our Lord. We were meant to enjoy tender moments with him. Just as Adam was first created to walk with God and enjoy His company, so we were created to experience closeness with our Father all the time. But since we make poor choices and then pride causes us not to see things the way they truly are, repentance is a precious gift God has given to us so we can reconnect our hearts to Him!
We are in the middle of the 10 Days of Awe, part of the Jewish fall feasts between Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), where God invites us to press the reset button if our hearts have been asleep, offended, disengaged, fixed on addictive patterns, or any number of things that have caused us to wander away from being close to Papa. Instead of being angry, His great heart reaches out to us over and over again to say, “Repentance is my gift to you. Wouldn’t you rather have what I have in store for you this next year instead of the direction your life was going?” Listen to His heart and respond with repentance (“Yes, Lord, this is what I want!”) when you feel your heart tugged by these pleas from Papa God to you:
Wouldn’t you rather trust Me?
Wouldn’t you rather take My hand?
Wouldn’t you rather be free?
Wouldn’t you rather love yourself?
Wouldn’t you rather care again and let your light shine?
Wouldn’t you rather rest in my ability to take care of you?
Wouldn’t you rather partner with me?
Wouldn’t you rather let love win?
Wouldn’t you rather accept yourself?
Wouldn’t you rather give Me your fears?
Wouldn’t you rather give Me your fears?
Wouldn’t you rather just let go of the madness?
Wouldn’t you rather believe it doesn’t have to be this way?
Wouldn’t you rather make life giving choices with My help?
Wouldn’t you rather not feel alone?
Wouldn’t you rather speak life over yourself & your situation?
Wouldn’t you rather know that I got you?
Wouldn’t you rather focus on Me?
Wouldn’t you rather agree with what I say about you?
Wouldn’t you rather invite me into the mess?
Wouldn’t you rather let yourself be loved?
Wouldn’t you rather understand I have no hidden agendas?
Wouldn’t you rather hand me your hurts?
Wouldn’t you rather let the offense go?
Wouldn’t you rather not make up negative stories about others in your mind?
Wouldn’t you rather forgive completely as I have done for you?
Wouldn’t you rather remember the times I’ve come through for you?
Wouldn’t you rather ask for my help?
Wouldn’t you rather be open to My invitation?
So what can you do in these last few days of the 10 days of Awe to prepare your heart to walk into all that God has for you in this next year?
- Continually say YES to our Father’s invitation!
- Go back to the prophetic words over your life and open your heart up to them again
- Read God’s word and declare His promises over your life.
- Find reasons to be thankful every day
- WORSHIP! WORSHIP! WORSHIP!
God’s heart is always for you, never against you. Let your heart be melted once again by His kindness towards you and give Him permission to heal your heart in any way that’s needed for this next season of life.
“Do you belittle the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience—not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?”
(Romans 2:4 TLV)
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