Joel 2:12-19
True repentance can be a pretty unpleasant experience, at least initially. It involves a broken heart, deep godly sorrow, and a good look in the mirror. Sometimes we won’t like what we see. In Joel 2:12, such wholehearted repentance is characterized by fasting, weeping, and mourning. Who wants that? And the hardest part of it all is looking at ourselves not with our own perspectives but seeing ourselves from our holy God’s perspective. We can never measure up. But viewing our sins in light of true repentance should not be a tool for self-condemnation or self-pity. Wholehearted repentance gives us an opportunity to cry out to our holy God and allowing Him to help us.
When we cry out to God, He hears us. Whenever we are genuinely humbled and brokenhearted by the reality of sin, God will have compassion on us and forgive us. 1 John 1:9 says that If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Sometimes in our pride, though, we think that not even God can forgive us. Please know that such thoughts are the enemies lies, and we have to learn to counter them with scripture. And that, my friends, along with prayer is the most powerful weapon we have in our arsenal, the truth of the word.
When you’ve repented of your sin, and received God’s gracious forgiveness, the outcome is a new beginning, an evident change in the direction of your life, the Lord’s blessing rather than His judgement, and JOY – Unspeakable joy. Repentance may start as an ugly experience, but the end result is always amazing! I say to you this week – REPENT! GO THROUGH THE PROCESS! AND GO FORWARD IN VICTORY!