Janice Gaines - The Overflow DevoSample

The Break-Up Song

Some mornings I start scrolling through Facebook too early. Social media has a way of getting our attention, doesn’t it? This morning, though, my perusing has given me updates of much heartbreak in my immediate community and the nation and world alike. These days that we are living in seem to be showing us much (unnatural) tragedy and divisive responses to the already devastating tragedies. We can all see that our nation is hurting from whatever angle we might be looking at it. What does God have to say in the midst of all of this? What might He be requiring of us? Where is our way out personally and as a community, nation and world?

The Bible tells us that we are each responsible for laying our own hearts bare before the Lord, waiting for Him to address the places we’ve held back from Him for so long, in order to repent of the fruitlessness to which those places have contributed. Our inability to forgive has led to broken relationships. Our refusal to believe God’s Word has led us to our own standards that fall short. Our desperate grip on our own pride has kept us from moving forward. Our knapsack of shame has created back pains with which we think we are doomed to live.

In Hosea 10:12, God says to Israel, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.” In the midst of telling the people of Israel what devastation could come upon them for their sin, He gives them a way out. He uses an agricultural example to show them and subsequently us our own responsibility in tilling the soil of our hearts—preparing our own hearts to be good soil for the Word of God to take root. The way out is repentance and a willingness to let the Lord lead us into His way of life in every category of our lives.

I believe that a godly life will most likely include this moment many times over. It’s called sanctification. There will always be more of our heart that we can give over to Jesus until the day we see Him face-to-face. Until then, what parts of your heart is the Lord hinting at wanting to address today?

To listen to the album Greatest Life Ever on TheOverflow please visit theoverflow.com/JG-Devo