Waves

It's never easy when we confront our chronic sins of behavior and attitude. I'm easily discouraged, wondering whether or not God will ever change these in me. Just this morning, I have that very question in mind: how is it that God changes us? What does it look like for God's word to gain potency in my life? I'm reading this morning about King Josiah, who at the age of 26, hears (for the first time?) the words of the Book of the Law, realizes his sin and the sins of the nation, and instantly repents. God affirms his action saying, "Your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord." So Josiah had this definitive turning point (and I, too, had that at the age of 16). But life now is a lot more about the small choices of the everyday. What does it look like for God to really speak to me now, and how does it look for me to respond to Him? I'm wondering about this, and then I get a visual picture in my mind. I'm taken to an ocean scene where giant huge waves crash against a rocky shore. The rocks stand stubbornly against the waves and seem impervious to the onslaught of water. But they aren't as unmoved as they think. Little by little, as time creeps slowly by, the rocks erode and surrender to the power of the waves. And I think it's that way with my heart and God's Word. Daily, I keep soaking and saturating my heart with the truths of God's Word, and though I don't feel like change is occurring, I hope to look back in a year, or five, even twenty, and see that sins of pride, self-reliance, and the failure to love people well will have crumbled over time, eroded by the relentless voice of God.