(Sledge)hammer time

There is a dam, and behind it is a huge reservoir of love and mercy and grace that God longs to flood us with. But we need to take a sledgehammer to that dam, breaking down the walls we put in place, walls of fear and doubt and coolness and popularity and respect and safety and logic. We need to smash the walls, we need to crack the tough outer shell and let the water of his love come bursting forth into our lives, because He wants to cover us in it and make us new, but we need to let it through. We need to break down the walls we put up and let God in.

“Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” James 4:8. God will not impose himself on anyone who does not want Him. But the moment we make that first step he comes rushing to meet us. Consider the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. You have probably heard the parable of the son who asks for his inheritance when his father is still alive (effectively telling his dad that he wishes he would just hurry up and die already). Then he takes the money, goes off and lives it up in a foreign land, wasting the money on sinful living. And soon he is broke and hungry, feeding pigs and finally realises the foolishness of his ways, and decides to return home to try and work as a servant for his father. When the son returns from his wild living in the distant land “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” (v20). For the father to see the son while he was a long way off suggests to me that the father was watching out for his son, hoping he would return, hoping that today would be the day they could be reunited. And as soon as he sees his son he sprints to meet him, embrace him, pour out love and forgiveness on him. And interestingly the cultural context is that if the father hadn’t gone to meet him, the son may well have been killed for returning to his village after bringing shame by asking for his inheritance early.

Obviously in the parable the father is God, and the son is us. God wants to be a part of our life. He wants to embrace us. He wants us to experience his love. He is waiting, watching, hoping. The moment we draw close to Him, He will come close to us. An Indian philosopher Sri Sathya Sai Baba once said “When you take one step towards God, God takes ten towards you.” (Disclaimer – he wasn’t Christian, but I think he stumbled onto some truth). God is waiting, and as soon as we take that one step towards Him he sees us coming, and filled with love and compassion, runs to us. The cross is proof of how much He loves us. The cross shows how desperate He is to pour out love and mercy and grace on us, if we would just pick up that sledgehammer, break down the dam walls and let Him in.

So often we can put up walls that block God out. I think often headphones can be a major one. Just think how God speaks to Elijah – it’s not through the dramatic fire or the powerful earthquake or the loud storm, but through a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19). Maybe one of the walls we need to break down is the barrier of sound that so often we drown God’s whisper out with. Another wall that needs to come down is busyness – we need to make Jesus our priority and set aside time each day for Him. I’m sure you can think of other walls in your life that need smashed down.

Will you pick up that sledgehammer and smash into the dam? Will you take that step? Because so much is waiting for us on the other side, as soon as we make that crack to let him come bursting through. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Pick up your sledgehammer and let His love come rushing in to your life afresh today!