The Heart of the Matter

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ~1 Samuel 16:7

It’s such a nice feeling to pass by someone in a store, at work, at church, on the street, etc., and they look at you with a smile on their face – maybe even say “How are you today?” It’s a courtesy that is often overlooked in this world full of people with 2,000 Facebook friends that don’t even know their next door neighbors. We are often detached and like to keep it that way, thinking that if we look up and smile at someone, we might actually end up having to stop and talk to someone. We might even have to invest some time in that person, rather than just click “like” on their status. We might, rather than just see the smile on their face, actually find out what’s going on in that person’s life; their concerns, their joys, their fears, their excitement, or their pain. And sometimes we just don’t want to get involved in all that, so we don’t look at them, just keep moving and staying busy, don’t get involved, basically…don’t care. Oh, we would never say we didn’t care, or maybe even admit that to ourselves. When it comes right down to it though, while we’re thinking we don’t have time to hear someone else’s heart, we are often avoiding having to look at our own.

You see, a smile on someone’s face is pleasant and makes us feel that a person is friendly, makes us feel comfortable. But, a smile can mask deep hurt, rejection, feelings of inadequacy, and so many other things. We often put on a good face for friends so that they will think everything is okay. We put on a good face at work and laugh with coworkers as we go about our daily duties. We put on a good face for our family when we may have health concerns or financial concerns, or when they’ve hurt us and we just can’t admit it to them. There are so many reasons that we put on our smiley mask to show the world that all is well. We put on that smile and “It’s so good to see you,” at church with people that love us like family so that they won’t see the turmoil, the doubts, the sin, the ugliness going on inside. But there is one that sees through all of that façade, who can see the true self behind the mask, and the true heart that lies within.

When we come before Him in worship, He sees what’s really going on in our heart. He sees whether the things we do are for show, or whether we do them out of a true desire to serve and love Him. When we lift our hands up to Him and sing His praises, He knows whether we do it out of a sense of obligation or out of a genuine longing for His Presence. Regardless of how “holy” we think we may look as we lift Him up, He is the only one that can see the true nature of our worship…whether it is about us or about Him.

None of us are perfect, none of us has it all together (regardless of how we may try to appear that we do), and all of us are in desperate need of a Savior. We cannot fool Him into thinking He has our heart. He either does or He doesn’t, and He knows which it is for sure. What it comes down to is this; our heart is what matters to God, not our words. We can say all the right things all day long, but if we aren’t walking it out and showing our faith through the life that we live, we are simply showing that our faith is dead and that our heart is far from Him. It’s time that we put aside the mask and stop worrying about the appearance of perfection – we aren’t perfect, not one of us! We need to set our heart on the things of God and love Him above all else. His love for us is like no other, unfailing, unconditional, full of compassion, and never-ending. It’s time to realize that the heart of the matter is this: our heart IS what matters to Him more than anything else, and He is just waiting to lavish His love upon us.

Walking Through the Process

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. ² Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, ³ and said unto him, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” ⁴ Jesus answered and said unto them, “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Matthew 11:1-6

This past Sunday morning, I heard such an amazing message from this text at our church. You know how you can read the same section of scripture several times, and then one time it really speaks to you in a new and different way? Well, that’s what happened Sunday morning. This is what was spoken about:  John had devoted his life to his ministry, forerunner of the Messiah, telling the world to “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” In going back and reading Matthew 3, we find more about John the Baptist’s lifestyle and ministry, and we see his complete commitment to what he was called to do.

However, in Matthew 11:1-6, John the Baptist is in prison, and “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” wasn’t exactly the way that he had pictured it. This is why he asked if Jesus was the Messiah, or whether we should look for another. Jesus wanted John to know that miracles were being performed and that the gospel was being preached, and that John shouldn’t be offended because things had not turned out the way he expected. I was so convicted as I listened to this point because there have been MANY times that I have felt that way. Oh, I didn’t come out and say that I was offended at God because my life, or career, or ministry, or whatever, just didn’t go the way I had planned, it was more of an internal struggle. Thankfully, I wasn’t sitting in a prison, as John was, but maybe in a prison in my mind…a cage constructed by my flesh detailing the way my life should go.

     I may not have been as vocal about my lack of contentment or voiced anger and disappointment the way that others might, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel it. There have been times that I firmly believed that things were supposed to turn out differently than they did, and sometimes it was my own fault, my sin, my pride, my weakness, or just the fact that I wasn’t ready, that meant that MY plans didn’t work out. And then sometimes, it really just came down to that fact…that they were MY plans, not God’s.

     God knows the perfect timing for all things in our lives. He knows the trials that we will have to face, and He knows the mountains we will have to climb, as well as the storms we will have to weather. I think that I could say this in nearly every blog post…He does all things perfectly…this is just a fact. If we don’t get the job we were hoping for, if we don’t get that promotion, if we’re passed over for a raise, if the medical tests don’t return the hoped for results, it doesn’t mean that NO is the final answer. Many times it just means not yet. In all of the stages and seasons of our lives, we have much to learn and the opportunity to grow. This all comes through a process, it isn’t instantaneous. In looking back, I understand so many things now that I couldn’t begin to understand in the past. There were lessons I had to learn, there were strengths that I had to acquire through testing and trial, there was a time of refinement that I had to go through, and that I still am going through. I continue to go through the process in order to become all that God has made me to be. For instance, if I had gone down a different road nearly twenty years ago, the one I believed was right at that time, I know for a fact that I would have been a completely different person and would have had to face some very hard lessons in order to get me back where I needed to be. At the time it didn’t make sense, but looking back I am able to see God’s wisdom in moving me towards a different path.

                I’m so thankful for the Word that the preacher brought to us on Sunday because it showed me that in these past times when I felt like the biggest failure or a huge disappointment, that wasn’t the case; I just wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. God has a perfect plan and design for my life, and it may not fit the pattern I always had for myself, but it fits the pattern He has for me – and He always has the very best in store for us…always.

Still

Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸ A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”


Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:4-10

                It seems these days in this extremely fast-paced world that we live in, it is very difficult (and rare) to find a quiet moment. Sometimes I feel that if I have any hope of getting any writing done, I will have to go away and find a cabin in the woods or a bungalow by the ocean just to find a little peace.  There is always a tight schedule to be followed that barely allows room to breathe, as well as a list of “to do’s” that would probably take me six months to finish if I did  nothing else but work on it solid! But on this rainy morning here at home, although I am not surrounded by the sound of silence and not alone, I have found that quiet place of stillness in Him. It’s a place that is hard to describe, a place of peace and contentment, of hope and inspiration, of perfect love and trust. I am overwhelmed…

                When we take the time to get still before God and place Him in His rightful place as first priority in our lives, He will begin to speak to our heart. When we don’t have the answers and don’t know what to do, then we need to get still before the Lord, quiet all of the distractions that occupy so much of our time, and listen to His voice. It’s easy to come before God with prayers that He will meet needs for those we love, as well as for ourselves, but it is harder to just stop and hear what He has to say to us instead of bombarding Him with everything we want and need.

                So often we treat our heavenly Father as if He is there to fulfill a supernatural “to do” list for us, while the whole time He is longing for fellowship with us. He wants our time and His desire is to have our full devotion and all of our heart. God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and He still wants to have those talks with us as we walk with Him daily if we will only take the time to be still in His Presence. And in the same way that God called out to Samuel in the night in 1 Samuel 3:10, He is calling out to us and waiting for us to say, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”



Unchained

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

     Imagine, just for a moment, a dungeon; foul smelling, dank, rat infested…a place of pure misery for a prisoner. Look at the walls and see the chains hanging down with shackles locked tightly at the end to clamp securely around a criminal’s wrists. Look down and see the chain on the floor with shackles at each end, fitted to give someone barely enough leeway to take a single step. Look around at the heavy door with only a small bar-covered opening that allows a guard to look in on the prisoner. Notice the darkness of the cell and think about the utter despair someone would feel to be locked up in that cold, unforgiving place of isolation. We all have been (or still are) in that dungeon. We were bound by the chains of sin, the shackles of death, and were completely lost. Thankfully, Jesus came to set us free from all of that. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection, He purchased our salvation, completely setting us free from everything that had bound us up. He walked right up to the door of our cell and unlocked it, then loosed us from the shackles and chains. We didn’t do anything to deserve that freedom, there was nothing that we could do to earn it, and yet He set us free because He loved us too much to leave us imprisoned in the dark.


     In Luke 4:18, Jesus is quoting the scripture from Isaiah 61:1, which says this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

He has set us free through His perfect work at the cross. And yet, so many times we find ourselves sitting unshackled, unchained, on the floor of the cell staring at the open door, but not moving. Why is that? When viewed this way, it doesn’t make any sense! But God HAS set us free, and yet we still sit there playing with our old chains and wallowing in the dirt of that nasty cell. Again, WHY? Habits, addictions, vices, “pet” sins, whatever you want to call it, it’s still the same…bondage. Jesus came so that we would have life and have it more abundantly, not so that we would be stuck in the muck and mire of the past. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price so that we would be free and He did that so that we would walk in that freedom. Read that last part again: “…do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” Do not LET yourselves…this tells us that it is our choice! We must choose to not wear those old chains. We must choose to lay down anything that comes between us and the Lord. He won’t force us to lay those things down. He won’t force us to leave that cell. However, He has opened the door wide to allow us to walk out into the light of a new life in Him and into complete freedom.

     That isn’t just freedom from sin. We have freedom from addiction, gluttony, lust, pride, envy, and jealousy, but also from oppression, depression, anxiety, defeat, and so many other things that the enemy and our flesh would like to keep us bound up with. When we repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness, and Jesus becomes our Savior, His Spirit then dwells inside of us. That means He is always with us, good times and bad, no matter what, always. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When His Spirit is in us we have freedom in our lives every day. It’s up to us, whether we will just sit there with our chains and stare at that open door, or whether we will choose to get up, walk out of that prison and live in freedom through Christ. He has paid the ultimate price, the question we face is whether or not we will step out into the fullness of His grace and love to live the abundant life of freedom that awaits us. Selah.

The Seasons of Life...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

     Yesterday as I ran errands after work, I had some quiet time to enjoy the beauty of fall that seemed to be everywhere I looked. It may not be considered extravagant beauty to some people, but to me it was like being surrounded by the most elegant masterpiece. There were wide fields of cotton all around, just waiting to be harvested, and trees with sections of branches that looked as though they had been gently dipped in gold, auburn and red. Fall is definitely my favorite season of the year! I love the gorgeous colors, the pumpkin pie, football games and the marching band, leaves crunching under my feet, and evenings snuggled with my children as we drink hot chocolate. Fall is beautiful and full of comforts, it amazes me!

     Well, have you ever wondered what the world would be like if there were no changing of the seasons… Have you ever considered how very different life would be if we lived in a never-ending season of spring? How would it be to always have to skate around on the ice rink of winter? We live in a world that God created to shift perfectly from winter to spring to summer to fall. The changing of the seasons helps to make a perfect environment for us to live in. We have a time of sowing in the spring and reaping the harvest in the fall. Many animals have a time of stocking up before their long winter’s nap. All of these seasons work together to create a beautiful balance for our world.

     In the same way, our lives are made up different seasons. The seasons of our lives are not always predictable. You may believe you are in the deepest, coldest, most barren part of winter, when actually you are about to step out into the bright, thawing sunshine of spring. And in exactly the opposite way, we may feel that we are in the most beautiful season of our lives when everything seems to be going just right, and then suddenly the rug gets pulled out from under us and we find ourselves in a wilderness of desolation.

     We can’t know when these seasons are going to change. We don’t have a calendar that applies to life. However, when we are seeking the Lord and listening to His voice, He is able to prepare us for the seasons that lie ahead. It's His wisdom that will lead us through the darkest valleys and the loneliest paths. And even when we seem to be in the most perfect seasons of life, we will only find true joy and peace in our Savior’s love.

     There have been times in my life when I was happy, fully content, and did not want to be moved. But suddenly I found myself in the midst of a changing season. I found myself moving from the fullness of summer into the coldness of winter, where all of the leaves have fallen off the trees and left what seemed like only bareness and emptiness behind in my soul.  I have been in that place where the things that had made me comfortable and that I had held onto so dearly were completely stripped away. It was a place of unease, of questioning, and doubt. These are the times that we have to learn to trust. This is where we find out what our faith is actually made of, when we have to put action to the words that have been coming out of our mouth.

     The amazing thing about the changing of a season, no matter how uncomfortable it may be, is that this is also the time that we learn to fly. When we are holding on tightly to the One who holds the universe in His hands, then no matter how our surroundings change, how people change, how things change, we won’t lose our way because He won’t let us go. In the times that I have felt like I was backtracking, or that I had lost all that I had worked for, or was unhappy with the direction God was leading me, I learned to trust the Lord because He ALWAYS knows what is best for us! In every one of those situations, God was using that season in my life to help me grow spiritually. Just as a mother eagle has to make the nest uncomfortable in order to get her young to leave the nest, God has to make us uncomfortable in order to move us! It may not always be easy, but the changing seasons in our life are meant to draw us closer to Him and to bring about maturity in us. Those seasons are meant to mold us into who God is calling us to be. Daniel 2:21 says, “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.” God changes the times and seasons. He knows what we need and exactly when we need it. He knows when we’re ready and we’re not ready. His timing is always perfect.

     As we take in the beauty of the winter, spring, summer and fall, we must remember that the seasons in our lives are filled with beauty, artfully crafted by the God who loves us infinitely, and essential for us to grow in Him and in the callings and gifts He has placed in each of us. We may not always understand what He is doing in our lives, and we may not be able to see the big picture, but we can rest in the knowledge that He knows the right time for everything in the seasons of life. We only have to trust Him.