Get With God on the Matter

What hinders us from Getting with God on the matter?  

Maybe you have something in your life that you need to sort out, but you’ve been trying to manage it on your own instead of waiting on the Lord. In theory, you know you can cast your cares on Him. I mean, that’s what the Bible says. But for some reason, you have yet to do it.  

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One of the greatest blessings of walking in a relationship with God is understanding that when we come to Him through His Son’s sacrificial work, He becomes Our God.  

For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Isaiah 41:13

Wow! What a wonderful promise to know that the Creator God, sovereign over all, draws near to us and gives us access to His very heart. Could you receive any better news today? I think not.

• We can be set free from the bondage of sin.

• We can call on Him for wisdom.  

• We can cry out in time of need.  

• We can seek shelter when we are afraid.

• We can walk with the one true God.

• We can experience freedom from strongholds.

• We can know joy and purpose in living. 

Amazing.

Yet, for some, life doesn’t often feel amazing. At times God seems distant. We find it hard to be at peace. Joy is elusive. The promises of God seem more like poetry than our guarantee. We wonder, “Sure, they are great but could they really be for me?”  

When troubles arise in our life, instead of “getting with God on the matter,” we go our own way. We say we love God but wonder if it’s worth seeking Him in time of need.  

Is this what the Christian walk should look like?  

Is this what it means to know and follow God?  

Is it all just words?  

A few days ago, I found myself in the short, three-chapter book of Zephaniah in the Old Testament. The prophet Zephaniah warns Jerusalem and her oppressors of their sin against a Holy God through idol worship. It was no surprise that the pagan nations had filled their society with false gods and wicked idol worship, even child sacrifice. But Jerusalem? They were the people who bore His name! Zephaniah condemns them for mixing their worship of God with pagan worship.  

Idol worship.  

Could it be that their problem and our problem today is the very same? 

• career

• money

• social status

• our children

• notoriety 

• leisure

• comfort/convenience

• safety

The problem for believers is not the obvious rejection of God or turning completely away from Him. We all know and build some form of “religious behavior” into our everyday life. But it is the work of unbelief on some level that leads us to put our trust in other things. Like God’s people of old, we are tempted to live with divided hearts.  

Are you worshiping with a divided heart? How would you know for sure? What are some symptoms? Zephaniah spells it out in his words spoken to Jerusalem. 

1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled 

(spoiled, marred), the oppressing city!

2 She listens to no voice;

 she accepts no correction.

She does not trust in the Lord;

she does not draw near to her God.

Zephaniah 3:1-2

Let’s simplify.

A person who suffers a divided heart:

• does not listen to God’s voice
• does not accept correction
• does not trust in the Lord
• does not draw near to God

Zephaniah continues by saying a person who has a divided heart is complacent. They are…

    those who say in their hearts,

‘The Lord will not do good,

 nor will he do ill.’

Zephaniah 1:12

A person whose heart is divided doesn’t expect good OR bad from God. They are indifferent and have a heart of complacency

I offer two more symptoms of a divided heart from Zephaniah 1:5-6

those who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens,

those who bow down and swear to the Lord

and yet swear by Milcom,

those who have turned back from following the Lord,

who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

Zephaniah 1:5-6

A divided heart worships God AND idols. 

A divided heart turns back from following the Lord and does not inquire of Him.  

Let’s consider Zephaniah’s warnings for a moment:  

• Friend, are you professing to walk with God in daily worship but not willing to be obedient to His voice? Has He asked something of you that you continue to ignore?

• Are you unwilling to accept correction? Or are you teachable? God gives us His Word, godly counsel from pastors and other Christ-followers, etc. Are you ignoring the help God puts before you?

• You say you trust the Lord. Do you? Do you go to Him for His heart on the matter to obey however He leads?

• Do you seek to draw near to God? Or do you stay at a distance feeling guilty for sin or hiding it? 

• Do you struggle to believe that God feels one way or another about the affairs of your life? Do you believe that God desires intimate fellowship with you? 

• Do you worship God but really love something else quite a bit too? Is God the first thing on your mind? If not, what is?  

• Do you forget to inquire of God in the day-to-day of life? Or do you only go to God in emergencies? Do you cling to Him or assume He’s got too much to think about to consider your needs?

Maybe it’s time to get with God on the matter. God will not allow His children to walk with a divided heart for long. As you read on in Zephaniah, you see that God punishes Israel for their idol worship? Why? Because their very idol worship will be their ruin, and He loves them too much to allow them to remain in that place. 

God strips the idols from the lives of His people. He stretches out His hand to “cut off from them the remnant of Baal” along with the evil influences that led the people astray. V 4 

“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom, those who have turned back from following the Lord,  who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.” Zephaniah 1:4-6

But God’s goal is not destruction. Idol worship carries with it the fingerprint of the enemy. Satan intends to kill, steal, and destroy.

God’s desire is restoration.

One of my favorite passages is found in the last chapter of Zephaniah. Are you wondering what awaits you if you bare your soul before God and confess your heart has been divided?

God welcomes repentant hearts into a warm embrace. He lovingly cares for us even when we get stuck and must turn back to Him. Look at His promise of restoration for Israel and for you and me today.

The Lord your God is in your midst,

  a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

  he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Are you struggling, friend? Get with God on the matter.