Repentance and Refuge-October 8, 2012 (Psalm 4:3)

Author: Andrew Comiskey
October 08, 2012
‘Just as there is a momentum to evil, so is there a momentum to repentance.’

Surrender is everything. Unless the seed releases itself to good soil, it remains hard and contained, unable to bear fruit. But when we open in faith, holding nothing back, ‘the Lord works wonders for the faithful.’ (PS 4:2) The ‘wonder’ of repentance requires our personal surrender and good soil in which to open.

At our inaugural conference of Restored Hope Network, pioneer Frank Worthen spoke piercingly of the first point: our personal surrender. After nearly forty years of helping men and women come out of homosexuality, he cited full surrender to Jesus Christ as the factor which differentiates those who proceed to wholeness and those who fall back.

Last week I had the privilege of witnessing a beautiful woman (one of our Living Waters leaders in Kansas City; I’ll call her ‘Kate’) testifying before her church of the journey from lesbian to winsome mother and wife of two (with the help of ‘the best husband in the world.’) Her intricate story hinged on one thing: full surrender to Jesus. She had made a faith commitment to Him years before but was not ready to die to her lesbianism and live for Jesus alone.

No therapy, no group, no eloquent truth can change the fickle heart.

Nevertheless, her ‘death’ required a context. A Christian family loved her pointedly at the point of her readiness to surrender. In a sense, their love primed her for repentance. After that, her restoration into whole womanhood moved swiftly. The momentum of her repentance halted the destructive impact of her double-mindedness and surpassed it.

Repentance means little if we have not good soil in which to die. A seed can open and perish in toxic soil. Gratefully, Kate has a pastor (currently participating in Living Waters for his own well-being) who is committed to creating ‘good soil’ for all who surrender to Jesus in his parish. He knows the risks (outraged seekers) and the rewards: the momentum of repentance to set willing hearts free.

‘No-one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of heaven.’ (Lk 9: 62)
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