Are You Willing?

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”  Psalm 51:12 

A willing spirit. What does that have to do with the joy of salvation?  Or with sustaining me?  Apparently, quite a bit.  The Word of God is so powerful- yet it never wastes words.  Every word has meaning and application for us as believers.

Many times when life causes us to be discouraged, depressed and overwhelmed, something inside of us shuts down.  We have a tendency to put up walls between us and the Lord.  If we desire to have the joy of our salvation restored, we must be granted a willing spirit.

Willing for what?  Willing to turn things over to God.  Willing to hear His voice.  Willing to put down the things He tells us to put down.  Willing to follow Him wherever He leads us to go.  Willing to be restored. 

When we become willing, we, in essence become moldable, bendable and pliable. We become useful in the hands of the Master Potter.  A willing spirit is a sustainable spirit.  When we hand the reigns of our life over to God, he gives us grace to keep up going. He gives us grace to operate in His Spirit.

In this verse, the Psalmist is ascribing all the action verbs to God.  It is His to restore and His to grant a willing spirit. It is His to sustain me.   Isn’t that interesting? We cannot even be made willing to change into His likeness without him granting us a willing spirit.  We can do NOTHING apart from Christ.

Dear Lord, I surrender.  I need your help. I need you to help me be willing to be restored and transformed into Your likeness. I look to you as my source of all that I now- or ever- will need.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri