God is All in on You
This is the third and final teaching in a three-part series on the Hebrew word HINENI or “Here I am.” The first two parts provide the background of this important word and how we can integrate it into our spiritual lives. This last part looks at the time God used HINENI.
Many of us feel that God doesn’t hear a word we say. What if you knew that God wasn’t just listening? What if when you called out to him, you knew he was enthusiastically responding, “Already on it. I’m here for it. Let’s do this! Happy to help! You can actually set yourself up for a connection like that with God.
HINENI is a word that means “Here I am.” It is a phrase used by people we think of as “close to God” in the Bible. When God spoke, they responded with this word to, in essence, say “I’m here! I’m ready!” Abraham said it when God called him. Moses did, too. So did Samuel and Isaiah. It’s hard to put yourself in the same category with these great people of faith but we are invited to connect in the same persona, deep relationship with God through Jesus today.
There is one time in the Bible that God said HINENI. Imagine what that means. God, the Almighty Creator, the King of Kings, said, “Here I am!” — and not to Jesus or the Holy Spirit. He said it to his people.
That experience would transform your life.
As we wrap up our series on HINENI, let’s look at one of the most spectacular moments in the entire Bible. The set up of this passage is that God sent a prophet to call out his people for their lukewarm obedience… he wasn’t too happy about the fact that they LOOKED like they wanted him in their lives, but they really didn’t.
The Time God Said HINENI
If you want to find the spot where God says HINENI to his people, you need to start at the beginning of Isaiah 58. For some context, in this passage, God is talking to his people — people like us. They act as if they are looking for a connection, but God is skeptical. In verse 2 and the first half of 3, he says:
“For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
God’s people are following his commands and doing the things he said to do. They’re saying to God, “See? We’re doing this thing you said,” to which God responds, “Is that so?” You can find his specific response in the rest of verses 3 and 4, where he says:
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
God is calling his people out for their lack of authenticity. They may be obeying with their actions, but their spirits are not in a good place. They are paying lip service to his commands, but their hearts aren’t in it.
This is where it gets good. In verses 6 and 7, God paints a picture of something bigger and better than simple obedience:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
God is calling his people into a deep, fruitful, authentic life that goes beyond following rules. He is calling them into his mission and vision: to fight for injustices, set people free, and carry authority in his Kingdom here on Earth.
It’s here, as God reveals a bigger picture and a better future, that he uses the word Hineni… Verses 8 and 9 say:
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: ‘HINENI’”
God is saying: when his people go beyond external religiosity into true obedience that pursues his heart and priorities in the world then (and only then!) when they are living whole-heartedly as his people, he will gladly respond to their cries and requests and prayers and in response say, “HINENI!”
Letting HINENI Transform Your Life
When we let go of our own priorities and put God’s desires first, we don’t just say “Here I am” to God. He says it back to us. When we live each day submitted to him and pursuing his will, there is no reason to think he isn’t going to show up in all that you do! God is all in on you. The question is - are you all in on Him?
If we want God to answer our calls and cries it’s time to stop playing around, stop faking goodness on the surface, stop shrinking back from God’s calling. When we don’t allow our relationship with God to direct our entire life, we experience frustration and feel God isn’t there for us. But as soon as you fully surrender and pursue Jesus and his Kingdom, I suspect when you call out to God, he will respond with Hineni.
Let the concept of HINENI spark a life of courage that’s all in on living life with Jesus. God is ready to turn your life story into one of beauty, action and boldness…
Are you?
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