“For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Is 57:15)

What are the things God is looking for in our hearts? The contrite (genuinely sorrowful for wrong doing) and lowly (those who are not proud and arrogant, not self reliant) have gone through a valley that has stripped them of self dependence and arrogance and left them brokenhearted. They have been brought down and humbled by life’s trials to places where, naturally speaking,  it’s impossible to get out of. God allows these trials to reveal to us what is in our hearts and He exposes it.

All day long God spreads out his hands and says to us, “here I AM, here I AM!” but we don’t see or hear him because our hearts are deceitful and infected by sin (Je17:9). We are not only blind to our own needs but also cannot hear the cries of others who desperately need help. “I have spread out My hands all the day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts— (Is 65:2).“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Rev3:17). Without life’s testings and being brought to a place where our hearts are exposed, we may fail to understand our dependence on God and His direction for the purpose of our life.

I was reading about David Livingston and his missionary journeys into Africa during the 1840’s. In one account of his travels he met a chief from a certain village. This chief embraced the Gospel of Christ and loved the Word of God. None of his brethren joined with him believing in Jesus Christ because of the hunger they experienced from a severe drought. In their thinking they associated the drought with the discipline of God therefore they would not serve the God of an “empty stomach”.

Dear friends, I speak these words to myself. Why would I think any different than these Africans? Is God only interested in causing me to suffer? Has my trial continued so long that God has forgotten my cause? Yes, these questions may be natural to think but this is not the full understanding. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” (Is40:28, 29).

Israel was tested numerous times in the wilderness and yet would not truly rely on their need for God, instead their tendency was to murmured and complain. All the while, God was trying to bring forth a testimony in His people, The children of Israel could have gone through the wilderness and testing and said “God is with us! God will bring us through”.  The Israelites are used in the Word as an example of unbelief. We can trust that God will never leave us, He desires to bring us through our wilderness. Halleluiah! Praise God; He is our Deliverer!

How do we open our eyes to see His ways and open our ears so we can we hear the cries of the brokenhearted and weary? We need to have God’s heart of compassionate love for others that He reveals through testing and what lacking in our own heart. God says to ask and seek Him (Is 55:6).  Beloved Saints, call upon God when you are in a time of personal drought because He wants to use you as a testimony to your generation. He will never leave or forsake you (Heb 13:5). He is near to the brokenhearted and He is an ON TIME GOD!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Devotionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.