Cultivating a Spiritually Sensitive Heart
When I was a youth pastor, we relied heavily on icebreakers…activities that welcomed students in and set a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. One of those icebreakers was to describe a superpower you’d like to have and why. The usual responses were to fly, be invisible, or be really strong. One of those may even be one of yours; being invisible was mine. But imagine if your superpower was being spiritually sensitive to everything God was doing around you.
At first glance, you might think that’s not much of a superpower. But think about it for a moment.
What if you had the power to examine the world around you and see where, how, and why God was working in every situation and moment? When bad things happen, good things happen, or a door closes or opens…we would know precisely why it is happening. We would know why it is so good, even if it doesn’t seem good at the moment.
We often talk about God’s sovereignty—His right and power to do everything He decides to do. We often remind ourselves of God’s sovereignty when we don’t understand why something has happened. But what if we did? What if our hearts were so sensitive to God’s movement around us that we could see and understand it? I want to not only understand it but also be joyful in the moment that it happens.
We Can Know What Pleases God
While many passages infer that we can know God's will or even that God expects us to conform to His will, one of my favorites is Romans 12:2—Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. That passage, and many like it, force me to ask, can I really know God's will? The Bible seems to suggest the answer is yes. So, how?
Romans 12:2 gives us something to do and something to avoid. Both of these things are active.
“If the Bible teaches you something contrary to your theological view, you change your view and follow the Scripture, which will never contradict itself. ”
‘Do not’ is an active command, not just a passive suggestion. If we want to cultivate a spiritually sensitive heart, then we have to actively avoid conforming our hearts and minds to the patterns and thinking of our world (culture). That means that just because our culture (family, friends, nation, etc.) presents an idea or belief that is good and right, we shouldn’t cling to it as if it were so. If we leave it there, then we only have a clean slate to create our own standards. This is no better because we set ourselves up as our own god…deciding what is right and wrong.
So, Paul tells us what we need to do. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We must see this inward transformation as a partnership with the Holy Spirit. Believer, you have been indwelled with the Holy Spirit, and He is actively working to conform us to the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49). At the same time, the Spirit uses the Word of God to teach us, coach us, influence us, and shape our heart and mind (John 14:15-17; Eph. 4:23-24; John 15:25-27). John Piper writes, “The Christian alternative to immoral behaviors is not a new list of moral behaviors. It is the triumphant power and transformation of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ — our Savior, our Lord, our Treasure.” It’s the work of the Holy Spirit, transforming our hearts and minds through faith which we receive through the power of His proclaimed/read Word. This means that we should regularly and consistently be in the Word, asking the Holy Spirit to use the Word to conform our hearts to Jesus, if we want our minds renewed. That also means that if we don’t spend time in the Word reading and understanding, and we don’t spend time in prayer, talking, and listening to the Father…then our minds will never be renewed in such a way that we understand God’s will.
An Example of Avoiding God
This was the case with Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37. God was speaking to Joseph through two powerful dreams. God declared that God would use Joseph in mighty and powerful ways in the coming days. His brothers, so full of hate and jealousy, could not discern the will of God. Instead of renewed minds, they were trapped in the generational sin handed down from one generation to another. They were conforming to the world around them, and this led to further brokenness. It was a brokenness so powerful that they weren’t able to fully enjoy their lives or walking in the fullness of joy with their Lord.
“Eliminate anything that hinders your sensitivity to sin, such as deliberately sinning, rejecting God’s forgiveness, being proud, presuming on God’s grace, or taking sin lightly. Such things will quickly dull your spiritual senses and give Satan the opportunity to lead you into greater sin.”
This is often true of me. Instead of running to the Word or running to prayer first, I allow generational sin that I’ve embraced, or the culture that I’m in, or my ‘clean slate’ to dictate how I view the world around me…how I view God operating in the world. I allow things to remain in my life that I know are not good for me. When I live like this, I’m not able to fully enjoy walking in joy and contentment.
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
You and I actually have the ability to cultivate a spiritually sensitive heart so that we walk in step with the Father’s will. We’re empowered by the Holy Spirit, we have the Word of God at our fingertips, and Jesus has made a way for us to speak to the Father wherever we’re at.
Read Genesis 37 today, and join me in cultivating a spiritually sensitive heart by praying to the Father and asking for help!
Love you all,
A Work in Progress - Patrick
