You Can Come As You Are

My last blog post talked about how important it is to run to God in the midst of trouble or difficulties. But then God totally convicted me of the way that I was holding myself back from Him. You see, I sometimes have this ridiculous notion that before entering God’s presence I have to fix myself up. Thinking to myself, “He is the God of the universe! To even be in His presence is an honor! I have to have it all together before I go talk to Him.”


But God really showed me that this is the opposite of what He wants our relationship to be like. I find it most difficult to go to God right after I have sinned, because that’s when the regret and shame make themselves most known. That’s when we feel at our lowest point, and we think to ourselves, “After messing up again and again how could I possibly stand in God’s presence?” So we try to clean ourselves up instead of admitting to God that we are a complete mess.


But really does it even matter? Even if we did everything almost perfectly, it would still always fall short of the glory of God. Even our very best effort is as filthy rags compared to the glory and magnificence of God. So we cant think to ourselves that after sinning we are no longer worthy to stand in God’s presence, because on our own we can never measure up anyway.


However, Hebrews 4:15-16 gives us hope.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

We are supposed to go to God with our chin up, confident that although we feel so unworthy, God has called us to be his sons and daughters.

I really love psalm 51, and the way that David is so open and honest with God about the place he is at. He wrote this psalm after confronted about his adultery with Bathsheba and eventual murder of her husband.

Psalm 51:1-5 “Have mercy on me O God according to your unfailing love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

David has committed a sin that will result in the suffering of many people. It would be understandable if, in his shame, David had hidden himself from God. But this is not the case, instead David wisely marches right up to God and confesses everything. He doesn’t try to hide what he has done, or make excuses, he actually pours out his sin to God. Of course he first needed a good shove in the right direction by an awesome prophet named Nathan.

My favorite part of the psalm starts with verse 7,“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow…Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.”

To me these words are so beautiful. They create a mental image of God taking something dirty and stained, and transforming it instead into an object of beauty and cleanliness.

Most days I don’t want God to see my failure, or the unlovely parts of my character. Sometimes I feel as though I have to prove to God that I deserve to be called his daughter. Lately when I’m having my quiet time I’ve found myself starting with, “Hey God, its me Katie. I’m just so joyful and grateful and everything is just peachy”.

That’s when I hear God saying, “Yeah, right. Start over”.

God says you can put on a smile for everyone else but when you come to me, you be genuine. You be real. I mean really, what’s the point of pretending? God see’s it all anyway. Even the parts I’m ashamed of, that I don’t want god to see. He sees them and he loves me the same. So we come to Jesus with nothing, but aching to receive. Longing to be filled overflowing with his goodness and love. Our father always provides. We will never walk away from him feeling unsatisfied.

If you are holding things back from God or need to tell him how much of a mess you are and ask for healing, you should do it right now. It might be scary or intimidating, but it is so worth it. He is God, but He is also your loving father who wants to hear from His child how they are honestly doing.

This song is pretty amazing and I would recommend it to anyone to listen to. It really talks about going to Jesus exactly the way you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U-MSwd6zMU&feature=fvwrel