And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules...and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. (36:26-29a)For a season of life, I had walked so far away from God that my heart had become like stone. In so many ways I was unable to see past my goals, my accomplishments, my struggles, my feelings, my life, and my mistakes, that my heart felt as hard as stone. I let nothing and no one in, and never let anything out. But, through God's constant pursuit of this saint, He began to break down the walls of my heart so that the heart of flesh, that He Himself has once placed in me, was able to hear His truth. How powerful the words "And I", "I will,""And I will,""cause you,""give you,""And I will be," and "I will" were to my soul. I was finally beginning to realize that it was by no work or merit of my own that could change the reality of my sinful state. It is only through the merciful work of God that I can be transformed. What a beautiful promise he lays out, "And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses." What an undeserved gift that Christ is the one that is looked upon by God, not me in my utterly sinful state. So, for a season, that was my life's verse.
But now, as I have reflected over the past months of how blessed I am in this season of life, I realize (in a very humble and joyous way) that I could be at the height of "physical blessings" in my life. The health of my husband, children, and extended family is good. Our house is more than we ever could have imagined. The church has surpassed all expectations and continues to do so. The love between Ryan and I gains passion and depth each day, and I could go on... So, in desperately desiring not to put my faith, my hope, or my trust in these earthly things, I look forward with great anticipation to the promises of the following verses:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.We are not promised an easy life, in fact we are promised the opposite. It is through the struggles that we experience in this life that we grow in our "praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7)." So my prayer is that I will welcome with boldness the future, all of the blessing and the trials, in hope that one day I will gaze on the things that are eternal...
1 comment:
good post Christy. I think you have a great mindset. So many of us, me included, have been shocked by tragedy because we weren't totally prepared with who God really is. The blessings we have are really incredibly gracious in the grand scheme of things. We don't deserve any of it and yet we focus still on what we don't have. It changes your perspective so much on life when you know who God is and what he has done for you. It gives you an "inexpressible" joy as peter says. I hope and pray that you don't have to endure many sufferings but if you do, you know who He is and what he "Will do".
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