Living and Active

When our kids are small, we are so smart. They stare at us with wide eyed wonder, a little smile playing on the corner of their sweet little lips. We are brilliant. We phrase everything just right, we have wonderful stories to illustrate our points and they love us. “ Heck yeah, lady, you make perfect sense, sign me up!”

Then they grow up.

We continue to make our case, illustrate our points, add more proof texts/data. I write emails and sit back and look at the finished product and think to myself, “You are brilliant. Why in the world did you ever go into nursing? You would have made a world class attorney.” I send the email. If there is a response (I have sons), it’s usually something like, “Appreciate the email, mom. What did you think about the game Saturday?”

“The game?”

I’ve read this verse a million times. I’ve stood and said, “Amen…preach on brother!!” countless times. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. “ Hebrews 4:12

And….if you continue to read, you’ll find not only do we have the Word of God in our arsenal, we have a great high priest at the right hand of God who understands perfectly and sympathizes! Then with a big “now therefore,” which means on the basis of all I’ve said, “Draw near with confidence to this throne of grace so we may receive mercy and grace to help in time of need.”

I place so much confidence in my words. I wouldn’t say that out loud, but it’s true. We place a lot of confidence in people too. If they just hear this speaker, if they just have this teacher, it they just get in this specific group, if they just go to this camp and hear this guy preach, they’ll get it.

Then it hit me this morning….in whose words is my confidence? If I could pick one person to say something, make a case, just one person in whom I would I be totally confident that their words would be sufficient to not only change a mind but change a heart and all ensuing actions without any additional comments from me, who would it be?

Ooooo, welllll, ummm. If pressed for the answer, the right answer, we know it is God. God’s words.

But my actions don’t support this profession….because if they did, I wouldn’t beat things to absolute death and my prayers would be different. The feeling after I’ve sent an email that (in my opinion) just nails it, would be different.

So, do we ever voice our opinions? Send emails? Engage in dialogue? Sometimes…..sometimes.
But when I walk away from a face to face or email encounter, my thoughts should be different.

“God, no matter how brilliant my email, it pales in comparison to your Word. Nothing I can say holds a candle to what you have said. Whatever I say, may it be so infused with your words, that it draws whoever I am speaking to, to the word of God because there is no power in what I say. There is however, incredible power in what you have said because it is powered by the Holy Spirit. He is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts….I don’t have a clue most of the time and even when I do, my input is so limited by what I know and the words I have at my disposal. You have no limitations. All praise and all glory to You, God Most High, for your Word. ”

We pray that God will stop an encroaching flood, wipe out the crazies and stop the bombing, awaken a comatose bicyclist who was hit by a car…all so beyond our power, we turn to Him. But the human heart is just as beyond our power.

Who am I kidding….only God can change a heart. And He has given us a powerful tool, his Word, so people can hear directly from Him.

Draw near with confidence!