The Tapping on the Shoulder of Our Hearts

Both brilliant and beautiful, The Discerning Life may well be the book Steve Macchia was born to write. Every chapter unlocks new insights and treasures of devotion for any believer who aspires to live a life dedicated to “practicing a preference for God.”  Check out just a small piece of this work.

God is a loving initiator.

It’s what I most appreciate about God. He is the first to love. He is the first to give and forgive. He is first to call and empower. He is first to affirm us as his beloved and equip us as his broken and blessed children. He is the One who metaphorically stands on the porch of heaven and continuously sees us and waits for us to come to our senses and turn back home.

And when we finally do come to our senses, like in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11−32), it’s God who is prodigal (wastefully extravagant) in his affection for us. His way of loving is gentle and generous, simple and beautiful: a robe for our back, a ring for our finger, a kiss for our cheek, new shoes for our tired feet, and a party for our wayward heart.

His way of relating to us is always love. Always personal. Always gracious. Always. He’s never there with a finger of shame or blame pointing in our direction. Rather, it’s always an extended and outstretched hand to receive, greet, welcome us home, and restore us back into community.

It’s so like God to be fully present when we’re clueless and absent. His love for us is genuinely gracious and delightfully affectionate. He is so interested in us that his eyes are peeled on us 24/7, never stopping, never turning away, never distracted, never absent, never ending. His moment-by-moment focus is us, day and night, every minute of our lives, no matter where we live or what generation or ethnicity or social status we represent.

And he holds us close to himself, no matter where we are in life. He holds us tightly, and he initiates love, grace, mercy, and peace into our troubled hearts and personal lives—all the time.

No exceptions. Always and forever.

But are we aware of his presence? 

He’s tapping on the shoulder of our hearts all the time: tap, tap, tap . . . tap, tap, tap. As Christ- followers, it’s incumbent on us to notice the tap and not brush it aside, shun God’s presence, or be so numbed or hardened or oblivious as to miss it altogether.

The discerning life begins, ends, and is filled at every moment in between with practicing a preference for God.

 It makes so much sense: practice takes time, preference is overarching, and noticing God is our primary objective. Our awareness is in our noticing the tap, tap, tap of God’s presence, power, and peace. Discernment is about love, and a discerning life is measured, protected, and empowered by love that emanates first and foremost from the hand and heart of Almighty God—Father, Son, and Spirit.

Psalm 139 is often referred to as the “Omni Psalm” because the psalmist is reminding us that God is all-knowing (omniscient—he knows you, vv. 1–6); ever-present (omnipresent—he is with you, vv. 7–12), and all-powerful (omnipotent—he created you and loves you, vv. 13–18). God is the giver of shalom, the peace that surpasses all knowledge and sustains us in our daily lives. And he invites us to trust deeply that he will care for us and protect us as we plead with him to “search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23–24) This is the kind of love that’s discernable for all who know, love, and serve God.

Are you aware of the tap, tap, tap of God’s presence, power, and peace? 

That’s the benchmark from which we attain our under- standing of spiritual discernment. It’s not so much about what we know about God or what God’s marching orders are for us. It’s about what we notice and then receive personally and directly from God by continually attending to the relationally loving work of God in the Scriptures, in history, in the created world, and in our own lives. That’s how we come to know God personally, relationally, and transformationally.

Our motivation? God. Our inspiration? God. Our destination? God.

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