Restoration

‎'Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.' Psalm 51:10-13


Have you ever felt stagnant in your faith? Like maybe you were just going through the motions? God feels distant and you can't figure out how to draw near to him again? Many times it is the work of unconfessed sin in your life. It could be something big, or it could be as small as not reading the bible everyday and letting the cares of this world overtake you zeal for time with God.


I am currently at that place. The busyness of life and the things I have been worried about lately I have allowed to steal my joy. It has caused me to let my relationship with God fall to the wayside. Kind of like that friend you always mean to call but something else comes up and you just don't do it. you take for granted that God will always be there but just like that friendship, the relationship with God takes work to keep that close bond. This scripture is a reminder to me that I need to confess this sin to God and draw near to him so he will draw near to me.


God wants us to be close to him and to experience his full and complete life. Without that closeness I can tell that my life is just plain and really, everyday 'stuff' is just more difficult. it's harder to be the wife and mother God wants me to be. It's harder to get motivated to do things around the house, eat healthy, exercise everyday, be kind to others, have compassion(which does not come naturally to me) and the list goes on and on.


So my action today is to confess the sin of lazyness in my relationship with God and let him restore to me the joy of his salvation. In so doing I know that I can better reach out to others who need to see God in action through me and feel his forgiveness and restoration also. It sounds easy, but sometimes the small things are the hardest to confess.  It seems so easy to do, stay close to God, yet over and over I fail. The one thing I can take heart in I guess, is that God's mercy is never ending and he always forgives those who ask. His love is never ending as well and he always welcomes his sheep back into the fold with open arms.