The Holy Intruder

“God is vastly patient and relentlessly persevering as He intrudes into your life.” –David Powlison

I love this truth. I need it. It is an unspeakable comfort to me that God is not passive, waiting for me to work up enough self-will to shed my sinful habits and become a better person. If it were left to me, I’d never change. In my depraved, sinful heart, I’m comfortable where I am. I like my sin. But there is this holy unrest and discomfort that comes from outside of myself. When I see the immense price of redemption – so costly to the One who paid it, yet righteousness offered as a free gift to me - my sin becomes a very ugly thing.

God has been seeking me all along. When He saved me, I was a self-righteous, arrogant sinner, quite proud of my own morality and virtue. I did not see myself as a miserable sinner in need of a Savior. God came as a holy Intruder, invading my life when I seemed most set in my self-righteousness. I had not sought Him. And yet, He came. He did not need my invitation, because He created and owned me. He became a Father to me – my Advocate, my Righteousness, my God.

God’s grace did not leave me where I was when He saved me. Still He sought me. Over time I grew complacent in this relationship. I allowed other loves to become idols and gave them His rightful place in my heart. In loving mercy and endless patience, He sought me still. God allowed those idols to be taken from me. I saw them for what they were – empty, fleeting, temporary pleasures that will one day be burned up.

It’s as if daily He turns the lights a little brighter – He reveals more and more those sins that dominate my heart, yet at the same time I see more of His mercy – that grace that is effectual, pursuing, endlessly seeking my heart and making me into His image. I am so grateful for this God who is active, pursuing, and intrusive. He knows what I need, and where I lack the self-will and power to change, He has that covered. He not only gives that self-revelation, He also gives a revelation of Himself so that I know what I should be, and He gives the grace to change.