In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength…
Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)
Repentance can be uncomfortable, even the word is stubborn to come out of my mouth. Confession sounds softer. Enough time spent in quiet with Jesus enlightens us to areas in our character that we didn’t even know we needed to confess. After agreement with God comes the matter of some pain, repentance. Repentance is a change of mind and will that precedes transformation, and it can certainly be painful. It’s allowing God to prune off the yucky stuff He’s shown us in our personality. It’s usually painful to become aware of the rubbish in our character, but God does this because He loves us, not because He’s hurtful. He’s refining us and bringing us closer to His ideal, which is Christ Jesus.
Upon realization of our offensive qualities we can feel depressed or overwhelmed. “Arrgh, so much work to do”! “Such a long way to go”! Thankfully God is doing the pruning here and not us, we just need to line up our will with His and let Him hack away.
It will likely be somewhat painful but never hurtful.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that your love for us is so great that you continue to purify us and shape us into the godly men and women you created us to be. Help us to submit to your pruning so we can be more fruitful.
