The Clarion Call to Surrender
"And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Yahweh your Elohim: for He is gracious and compassionate, patient, and of great kindness, and He shall relent concerning the evil." — Joel 2:13
Definition of Tear (or Rend): To separate a substance into parts with force or sudden violence; to tear asunder; to split - as powder rends a rock in blasting, or lightning rends an oak.
Our ancestors tore their clothing as an outward sign of deep distress, anguish, and grief. This is what Yahweh is calling us to do now. The verses preceding Joel 2:13 record Yahweh calling His people to turn to Him with all their heart -with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. It was a call to raw, authentic repentance: a change of mind, a change of behavior, a change of heart. To turn away from sin, rebellion, transgression, and iniquity. To come out and be separate -a holy people set apart unto Him. It was a call to confront the atrocity of sin, the grievous act of transgressing against a Holy Yah, of committing acts opposite the covenant made and agreed upon between Yahweh and His people.
This was a clarion call. Today, it still is.
Yahweh is urgently and sharply calling us to reflect deeply on our actions in every way. This is a call to pure holiness and deep surrender of our soul -mind, will, and emotions. We must stop our regularly scheduled programming and pray with our ears open to hear Him. We must prayerfully examine our ways.
Are there behaviors we've been sweeping under the rug or excusing that are not like Him? Are there idols we've stored up on high places for a rainy day? Are there unholy thoughts or actions we dress up in scripture to make them look right when we know they aren't? Are there people, places, or things we've placed above Him? Who or what have we let attach itself to our emotions until it controls us? What lies are we holding onto in our belief system just to make our lives look right when they're corrupt in the eyes of Yah? Are we forcing specific sins into places where they don't belong -hiding voids and filling them with counterfeit gods?
I urge you today: take a break from the distractions. Take a break from the things you've been overconsuming, and listen for Yah's voice. Sit with Him and think. When was the last time you read your Word? Do you still pray — and if you do, are they quality prayers, or just drive-bys to get an "I did it" stamp before you keep moving? How much of your day do you actually spend thinking about your heavenly Father- His plans, His Word, His will for your life? When was the last time you authentically fasted unto Him or sang Him a song of praise or worship? Did you even think of Him today at all -and did the thought stop you, and move you to pray, out loud or in your heart, wherever you were?
These are just a few of the things we can ask ourselves, and we must be completely honest. We get so engrossed in life -bills, jobs, errands, daily affairs, trials, entertainment, food, fellowship -that we make everything bigger than Abba Yah, and before we know it, we pray less, read less, praise less, fast less, and worship less. We build replacements and pull our validation and satisfaction from things and people, not Him. What He thinks stops mattering, as long as we're happy. That is idolatry. That is pride. That is selfishness - and whatever else has been allowed to attach itself to it.
So I prophetically encourage you to spend more time in prayer, with a humble and repentant heart. Kneel with Psalm 51 and pray it. Read it and pray it as many times as it takes to break through the vain part of the flesh -the part that wants to explain itself, then defend itself, then fight against accepting that something must be addressed. Be diligent. Be sober-minded. The enemy goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
There is a critical season approaching, and the only way we make it through is to be fully surrendered to Yah.
"Hear, O Yisrael: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one! And you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might." — Deuteronomy 6:4–5
BBHM
