Turn Back to the Lord
What is getting in the way of your heart fully belonging to God?
Verse of the Day
“That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
Today’s Devotional
The book of Joel is a book about God’s judgement and repentance. Though it’s not known the date it was written or who was king at the time, the occasion was during a plague of locusts. This plague, according to the prophet Joel, was from God to get the people’s attention and turn their hearts back to God. If the people of Israel would do that, the Lord would restore more than the locusts had destroyed. Does any of this sound familiar to you about our current situation? Is it possible that God has used this last year as a way to get our attention?
It has been on my heart for a few weeks or so that we are at a precipice, a turning point, a fork in the road. In early March of 2020, the pandemic became real for Americans. The stay-at-home orders changed the way we went about our daily lives. Since then, things have been radically different. Now, it seems that things are slowly starting to creep back toward some semblance of normalcy. And I am feeling compelled to look at my life and make some decisions. Parts of this pandemic have been really good for us as a society. The busyness of life was removed and the family unit became important again. We had more family dinners last year. We played more games. We had no choice but to reconnect with some people and disconnect from other people and activities. Some of these changes need to be kept.
So what do these thoughts of mine have to do with today’s verse? I believe that I must take advantage of certain times to turn my heart back to the Lord. I need to be willing to take a critical look at my life and see what is working, what is not, and what is getting in the way of my heart belonging fully to God.
Re-read the verse above. Here is what comes next: “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before.”
I don’t believe that God wants us to be sad, weeping or mournful…specifically. I believe he wants us to be increasingly aware of his Holiness, which should drive us to our knees. I believe that the more aware I am of how great God is, the less my to-do list for each day matters. More of Him, less of me. This seems like a great time to really look critically at my life and become willing to remove anything that might be getting in the way of my awareness of God’s greatness, goodness, power and grace. Maybe I need to fast in order to have that kind of discernment. Maybe I just need to be willing to ask those kinds of questions.
I am not in a hurry to get back to “normal”. Normal doesn’t always work. There has been a sweetness about this last year that does not escape my notice. I pray that God will help me see how much I need Him every moment of every day. I pray that I will see what might be getting in the way, and that by God’s power I will be willing to let those things go. I pray that my heart will fully belong to God.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What blessings have you found during the time when things were radically different?
Are you willing to look critically at your life, your schedule, your habits, your work, your relationships and see what was working well and what wasn’t? If so, what needs to be changed and what needs to be kept?
What is something that you’ve noticed has been a barrier for your heart to fully belong to God? What can you do about removing that barrier today?
How can you give your heart fully to God today? What would that look like?