SOAP: mexico day 3

S - 2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

O - God anticipates Israel falling away from him. In his promises to Solomon regarding the temple he prepares the people for what is to come in their relationship with him with a straight-forward truth accompanied with God's enduring grace. Time and time again God's people dedicate themselves, their families, their groups, their buildings, their churches to walking with God and being close to him. God embraces this moment, but does so soberly, knowing that people are forgetful and wayward.

A - I think about the words of the hymn that say "Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." How I, we, need our hearts to be bound by God. His promise in these verses is that he will heal our wandering hearts through humility, prayer, and obedience.

P - Jesus, I know that my heart is in need of healing. It struggles to trust you. I can also see that your church is in need of healing. I believe you speak to us with the same truth and grace today. Oh that we would humbly seek you and find our wicked ways not as satisfying as our blessed life with you. Help us Lord to trust you for the impossible in and through our everyday lives.