The Controversy of God
Micah 6
The fact that the great God of the universe, the Most High and Holy One, comes down and pleads with us boggles my mind. What does pleading entail? It has two connotations, both of which pertain to the age-long relationship of God and His people. On one hand, to plead is to earnestly appeal and implore, on the other hand, to plead is to argue or present a case in court.
God does both with His people. I think right now we're more in the realm of His imploring us but the time is coming when He will take us to court and we will be defenseless before the Judge of the earth. It's mind-blowing that He's even giving us a chance to voice our doubts and approach Him to talk. Many times throughout Scripture, God gives us a very intimate look into His heart of hearts. The way He lays bare His heart speaks much to me. I don't lay bare my heart unless I am very close to a person and I am fully confident of their trustworthiness. God reveals His heart and lays all out for us to see knowing full well that we are going to sneer and jeer at His tenderness and longing and stubbornly turn our backs on His pleading.
We can analyze the Israelites and point out all their shortcomings and wonder how they could reject God so many times after all He did for them. We would do well to rather critique our own lives, our own track record. Hasn't God done the ultimate for us? We who were not His chosen people, the Jews, are now become His children and are given the permission to call Him, "Abba, Father" - the highest and most intimate endearment of the Jewish language. (Romans 8:14-17) And this privilege is granted to us all because He loved us so much that He gave us the Ultimate Sacrifice - His only Son.
Jesus begs us to come to Him when we are burdened and weary. (Matthew 11:28) He weeps over His people and laments over His longing to gather them under His wings as a hen with her chicks. (Luke 13:34) God implores us through the words of His prophets before Jesus' time to return to Him and discover His goodness, mercy, and forgiveness. (Isaiah 44:22) The overshadowing theme of the entire Scriptures is God's longing for us to come to Him. Arrogant creatures that we are, we constantly spar with God as though we have better answers for life. Yet still God patiently beckons us to "Come". He queries us, "What have I done to weary you?" (Micah 6:3) "Why do you turn away?"
He doesn't write us off. He never turns His back on us. Instead, He turns His face on us to allow us to see His love, His longing, His pleading in His eyes. Eyes that are brimming with compassion and hurt. We would not purposely hurt our best friend. And yet every time we have an errant streak or even a deviant thought, it's a personal affront to God. We, the fragile creation, are capable of hurting our Creator, our Father, our Redeemer at the very core of His being. He created us to be His and His alone. We are not our own to do with as we please. (I Corinthians 6:19-20) No, we are His - our bodies, our minds, our souls, our passions, our longings, our desires, our secret ambitions, our very life - is His alone.
Do you dare to pray this prayer with me?
Father God, I fall before You in repentance and sorrow for the many times I've willingly hurt You and spurned Your heart of longing for me. My desire is to return Your love with all my heart and life but Father, it's so easy to become self-confident and self-serving. Give me strength to continually fight down my sinful self. Also Father, I long to grow in my enjoyment of You and my longing to spend time in Your Presence. Teach me how to relax in Your loving Presence. Abba, Father, I want to be Your little child, running to You for safety and help, climbing up on Your lap and allowing You to hold me while I face my fears and my hurts with You. I want to please You with my life, my thoughts, my desires, and my worship simply because of Your astounding, overwhelming Love. Thank You, Jesus for Your Love and Blood and for Your Mercy.
