On contrition …

More from Jill Carattini (at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries); this time on Willful Heartache:

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). The heart most open toward God is a heart that is broken before Him.

Contrition is a word we now use infrequently, though it remains a powerful call to one of the deepest places of worship. As David discovered, it is not an easy call to answer; it runs counter to our instinct to run, calling us instead to come near with a broken heart. The word “contrite” derives from the Latin word contritus, meaning pulverized or ground to pieces. While this may be exactly the fearful condition we seek to avoid, in the willful act of allowing our hearts to be broken in pieces by our own sin, God’s mercy is nearest. The shattered soul is far closer to wholeness than the one who refuses to return to the Father. To be contrite of heart is to stop running and to turn without fear to the one on our pursuit.

Oscar Wilde was a soul familiar with the entangling circles of sin. Like me, he at times followed fear or instinct and kept running; other times he found himself compelled to stop and face his sin in the presence of God. In a poem written after his release from prison, he spoke plainly of what broke his dizzying cycles.

Ah! happy they whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from Sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?

The willful heartache of a child that knows she has fallen short is a heart that is open to the embrace of the Father. In God’s house, we need not run in fear.”

O, Lord! Please break my heart and lead me in repentance and faith.

Please forgive my foolishness, sin and unbelief.
Please help me to speak Truth to the lies and fears that tempt me to despair.
And please, God, please carry me in Your arms.
I’m so very tired. And scared.

But I know that You are good!
And in You I put all my Hope.
Amen & Amen