August 6 - 2 Corinthians 7: The Gift of Tears

Now I'm glad - not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. (7:9-10)

The distress around our house has grown exponentially, it seems, over the past few months. Some of that distress has been caused by others, but some of it is definitely self-inflicted.

God continues to peel the onion on some long-tolerated sin in my life, and it has been the most amazing experience. While often painful and distressing, thankfully it has driven me to my knees in repentance, praise God! It's gotten me back in the way of salvation, focusing on Christ and what He's accomplished for me through His death and resurrection.

"Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, "I have sinned." The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes - a reflex action caused by self-disgust. 

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man's respectable "goodness." Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in a person's life. This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by subconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses - repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for "the gift of tears." If you cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Father, even though I'm far from this end of this journey of repentance, I thank You for how You've lead me to this point. Thank You for Your gift of repentance, for the gift of tears about my sinful behavior. Thank You for the desire to change and for putting exactly the people I need in my path. Despite how humbling this whole experience has been, I can already see that it's all gain, no loss. Thank You for exposing my deep-rooted sin so that I would repent and get back in the way of salvation. No regrets here.