Rend your hearts

Joel 2:13
"Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity."

One of my greatest struggles in this crazy busy life is time management.  The days just don't seem to have enough hours in them... especially for sleep.  This world gets faster and faster.  I don't remember life ever being like this when I was a kid.  Everything is instant.. instant message.. emails.. phone calls... texting... instant oatmeal for crying out loud... although all of these things are convenient.. it can begin to feel suffocating.  When you are doing all you can to serve... be a good parent and spouse... friend... sister.. it begins to feel like that gnat that wont leave you alone.  The other day ... I had my hands full... Halle was fussing... the t.v. was blaring and I was trying to buckle Elijah in the car seat and of course my cell phone starts blowing up... Elijah looked at me and said "Mommy do you want to throw your phone in the river?" lol I said "Yes sir I do" Something tells me he has heard me say that a time or two... Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way...
Today I was talking to the Lord about how my mind was so clouded with thoughts of all the stuff I had coming up... trying not to forget anything... and I couldn't focus on my time with Him... He led me to Joel 2:13... This was after Israel had turned away from God... The Lord says "return to me with all of your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." (Joel 2:12)  Then He goes on to say "Rend your heart and not your garments" . In that day Israelites would tear their clothes as an outside expression of pain and sorrow...I could go on and on about this reference and how it applies to the text and to us today but the bottom line is this... He is more interested in their inside than the outside... if the inside is right ... the outside will follow.
More than sacrifice... more than service.. more than anything God wants our hearts.  How amazing is that... In a work work work world... God says "I want your heart" .. Our time can be packed full of "good stuff"  but if we neglect to give our hearts to Him daily we have missed the point.  What a wonderful God.