"Clearing the Air"

"I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes." (Psalms 119:26)

 Of all the ways that there are to make our lives a little easier, the way to God's heart is really quite simple: we acknowledge that we cannot do this on our own, and understand that He has our attention, and then we prepare our hearts to hear from Him! It is not our voice that needs to be heard, but His; He only needs us to admit our ways don't work, and that we desperately need Him. I was listening to Pastor Jon yesterday sharing about when God called out to Adam in the garden, "Where art thou?" It is not that hard to think that God was judging Adam, at least for those that think God is just about judging and ordering and commanding; but as Jon was sharing, it was not what God said that matters, but it was the tone in which He said it. God had no need to know where Adam was; He didn't even need to know what Adam had done, because He knows everything about us, even the intentions of our hearts. What that means, in case you might have misplaced your understanding, is that God knows the plans we make in our hearts before we actually act them out. So you see, with God, our actions never come as a surprise to Him, even the stuff we do that might surprise ourselves. We might not know all that is in our hearts, but He surely does. All God was doing to Adam was asking him to check his condition, as if to say, 'Where are you in your relationship with me?' Obviously he was not in a very good place; he was hiding in the bushes and feeling very very dirty. In that, he did declare to God the way that he felt, he said, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." And God listened! Adam might not have confessed it, but God reminded him of what his condition was caused by: Not listening to what He said! It really does not matter how we sin; whether it is intentional or by accident, we are still guilty of the sin. Our greatest need is to be forgiven; fortunately for us, our God is more than willing to forgive, if we just confess that we are wrong and He is right...

"People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy." (Proverbs 28:13) NLT