“Be still...and know that I am God.” (Ps. 46:10)

That is one of those verses we find much easier to quote and share, than it is to do.

When we ‘believers’ sense...something is ‘off’, or ‘lacking’ in our lives, we seem to have a default setting that prompts us to ‘get busier, do more, try harder’, instead of taking God’s advice and just sitting and being still...so He can talk to us. And truth be told, many of us avoid doing that because we already have a pretty good idea what He wants to talk to us about, and for one reason or another, we shy away from wanting to hear it. (John 10:27; 3:19-20)

Take for example the passage I addressed yesterday, where Jesus told those Jewish scholars...how they diligently study the scriptures in search of eternal life, yet...they are unwilling to ‘come to Him so that they might have life’. (John 5:39-40)

We read in Matt. 23 where Jesus cries out: ‘O Jerusalem’, ... How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings...but you were not willing!” (37-38). Do you know when a mother hen is prone to doing that...gathering her chicks under her wings? It’s when she senses danger and wants to protect her little ones.

This has always been the heart of God...wanting to reach out and protect us, not willing that any...would perish. (2 Pet. 3:9).

God had Noah build an ark; and He sent Jesus to us to ‘be that Ark’, because more floods are on the way, and are here already in fact. (Matt. 24:38-39)

Why, God even spoke a similar message through His prophet Isaiah...appealing to His people...”You could have turned (repented) and come to Me and found rest and protection...but you were not willing”. (30:15)

Yet how often do we want to blame God for our heartache and suffering?

Surely you have read or heard the story about when Jesus came and visited the home of Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38-42). We know very little about the two sisters other than what is shared here, but it is also presumable they are the same sisters of Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead after falling ill. (John 11) In fact, it was Martha who met Jesus when He ‘finally’ showed up and immediately makes it know...that “IF only You had been here earlier Jesus...this would not have happened”...as if it was His fault that her brother died. (21)

But in the story we read in Luke, Jesus enters their home and Mary immediately is drawn to Jesus and sits at His feet to listen to His words. Martha, on the other hand...”was distracted with much serving”. (Luke 10:39-40) In fact, she kind of resents the idea of her sister not being ‘busy, helping her serve Jesus’. Yet, what does Jesus tell her in response? “Martha, Martha...you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part...” (41-42)

Can you take just a moment of pause here...and ‘consider your ways’? (Haggai 1:7). What was the observation Jesus made regarding our outward attempt to ‘find life’; yet what did He state they were ‘unwilling’ to do that they might truly have life’? - An 'unwillingness to...._______?  (John 5:40)

But there is so much to do, right? We have Sunday School lessons to prepare, meals to cook, VBS to work for, camp meetings to attend, choir rehearsals to be at, not to mention all the other ‘worldly concerns’ we get swallowed up in (Mark 4:19). And yet friends, how can we fail to see the warnings in both Matt. 7:21-23 and 1 Cor. 13:1-3 that ‘doing’ so many notable and worthwhile things for God...are worthless...IF...He does not have our whole heart?

And we wonder why churches have so many special meetings in attempt to ‘revive’ their members.

Oh, don’t be in a hurry to beat yourself up over this tendency how we have to ‘hurry up and help God out’; you are in good company. Jesus even moved in that direction at the age of 12 trying to convince His parents that He ‘needed to be about the Father’s business’. (Luke 2:49). But Mary was like...’Um No...and we need to get home now!’...so He submitted Himself to them and we hear nothing of Him for the next 18 years. (2:51; 3:23). You see, it is all about God’s timing and if we are going to learn to ‘walk just as Jesus walked’, then it would serve us well to pay attention to how He did it. (Heb. 5:8; John 14:21)

I find myself wondering at times, what it was like for Jesus in those years leading up to when His ministry would go public. 30 years...He waited on the Father’s timing. But surely in those quiet, hidden years that we know nothing about, He had to have seen suffering around Him, people in torment, the afflicted, sick, etc. Those same crowds He would later look on with compassion as wandering , weary sheep with no shepherd. (Matt. 9:35-38) Yet, we have no reason to believe that He stepped in and did anything ‘supernatural’ or ‘miraculous’ for them until He was told or directed by the Father.

But then as God’s ordained it, it was now His appointed time, and Jesus made His way to the Jordan river and was baptized by His cousin, John. (Luke 3:21-22). We read in all four gospels of this account and how Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and then comes the affirming voice of the Father...”this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. But please take note here...because it is an easy point to miss: Immediately after being baptized, the Holy Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be...tested. (Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-2). No sermons, no performing miracles, not lessons to teach, no TBN shows to be on.

God does this, you know...He tests the hearts of all His creation, including Jesus’s. (Deut. 8:2; 1 Thess. 2:4). Jesus was tested in the three primary areas we all will be tested with that pertain to the ‘lust of the eyes, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life’. (1 John 2:15-16). And unlike the ‘first Adam’, Jesus passed all the tests with flying colors, demonstrating that God not only had His entire heart, but also He was committed to doing whatever the Father commanded Him to do. That is what a child of God does and is expected of Him...IF...they want to see and experience the fullness of God in their lives. Is that not what Mary also ‘preached’? (John 2:5; Heb. 4:15)

So look at Luke 4 and what we discover after the testing was over: “Then Jesus returned in the – power - of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.” (14). Care to take a guess what that ‘news’ was about? I bet it had nothing to do with Him being baptized, rather it most likely had to do with what people began witnessing as He began to preach the gospel and do miracles in the ‘power of the Spirit’ that had people talking. (Acts 10:38)

How foolish have we been to think or even entertain the idea...that God would ‘turn us loose with His power’ before demonstrating to Him that He had our ‘whole heart’ like Jesus did.

I know...I have heard it plenty of times as well...”God uses imperfect people all the time”; or...”IF God was waiting on us to be perfected before He started working, then nothing would ever get done!’. I’ll let you work through what all that means, or doesn’t mean; but this I know: If we have fallen short in coming to Jesus and giving Him our whole heart, which is then evident by our willingness to surrender to His Lordship (Luke 6:46) then at best, we simply have a ‘form of godliness’ and we can spend the rest of our short lives here on this earth devoid of the power and ‘abundant life’ He came to offer us.

Please go read 1 Cor. 13:1-3 again and make note of all those admirable gifts and traits we can manifest while still being lacking what truly matters – which is the genuine manifestation of the love and power and nature of God emitting from our lives in the form of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’. And that cannot even begin to happen, until we submit to the cross and follow in obedience to lay down our old lives so that He can increase in us and work through us. Because it certainly won’t be ‘us’ doing anything, but Christ working through us. (Gal. 2:20). But we have to first be ‘crucified with Christ’; and as previously stated, ‘flesh’ does not want to go down that narrow path.

So how do you know if/when God has your whole heart? Well, for starters, if/when you do come to Him humbly, broken, and contrite, He in turn will ‘lift you up’ (James 4:10) and will envelope you in His peace. Trust me, you will know it! But then...just as He did with the Israelites after being delivered from Egypt and crossing through the Red Sea, He lead them into the wilderness to test their hearts. (Deut. 8:2). It’s easy to ‘honor Him with our lips’ and ‘say we will do what He says’, so get ready to follow through on your commitment of surrendering to Him by your actions of obedience. (Matt. 15:8; Ex. 24:3,7)

I have no idea what will be some of the first ‘tests’ you will experience, nor the first ‘Canaanite nations’ that need to ‘come off the land of your heart’, but God does, and He will expose them to you soon. Just remember to ‘count it all joy’ as you get to prove to God you indeed have given Him your whole heart. (James 1:2-4). It might be something as simple as snapping at your spouse/kids, or ‘nit-picking’ or gossiping or complaining to anyone and everyone every time you encounter something that rubs you the wrong way. Believe me, you will know it when it is staring you right in the face.

So what are you supposed to do in that moment? How about ‘confess and repent’, as in just agree with God that this (sin) has to go, and stop immediately. And here’s the encouraging part...He is ready to provide you supernatural help (grace) in your time of need so you can overcome that temptation, and then go and [do that] sin...no more.(Heb.4:15-16; 2:18; John 5:14)