Thursday, January 24, 2013

Break Me...

Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice
...Create in me a clean heart, O God.-
Psalms 51:8,10


Have you ever heard the phrase, “be careful what you pray for?”  Well after a few weeks ago, I can honestly contest to this truth. It all started one Sunday morning when I was getting ready for church (completely late and wrong lol) and the song, “Seattle” by Mary-Mary came on the television.   One line in particular really grabbed my attention:

“Open up my heart, fill me with Your love
Every single part, make me what You’re made of……I just want a heart like Yours.”

I really loved that, and those words stayed in my mind for the next few weeks and it really started changing from a song into a personal prayer.  After practically wearing the song out lol, I started praying that God would start to pull out the things in me that weren’t like Him, and to literally “break my heart of the things that break His heart.”  Now if you’re like me, I already had a preconceived notion what those “things” were….like being softhearted when I saw people that were homeless, or fighting for justice when I saw something I know to be wrong…..you know all the practical stuff. However, the things that break the heart of such an all powerful God go a little bit deeper than the surface.  Although, the Bible clearly speaks about taking care of the less fortunate and standing for what is right…..God is also totally and utterly concerned about the specific things pertaining to you.  How silly of me to think I could pray this prayer and God not actually begin to do it!  I can honestly say that since I prayed this, it’s as if an extremely large magnifying glass has appeared over my heart, only magnifying the spots and the blotches that I didn’t even know existed….or forgot existed. So take it from me, if you’re not serious about God performing open heart surgery on your life….DON’T ask Him to do it.
"How many times have we abused God's grace and mercy on the things that are ultimately destroying our spirit?"

I absolutely love in Psalm 51 where David asks God to create in Him a clean heart.  That word “create” is so vital, because David wasn’t just asking for forgiveness…..he was literally asking God to break or destroy his old heart and rebuild a new heart within in Him.  How many times have we asked God to forgive us of something, yet turn right back to it once we felt the coast was clear?  How many times have we abused God’s grace and mercy on the things that are ultimately destroying our spirit? God is not our personal genie.  We don’t pull Him out and rub Him when we want our wishes granted, nor is He our one phone call when we need someone to bail us out of jail.  We have to get God back to His rightful place on the throne of our lives.  He’s the absolute supreme being, and don’t you know, He has the courtesy to want to use all of that power in working to make us become just like Him?  Crazy, huh? 


I’ve said this many times before in my blog, but I stand by it: God isn’t as concerned with changing our situation as much as He’s concerned with changing us.  Whew.  If I really had enough time to tell you all the things I’ve experienced in just a few weeks, it would be an entirely new post.  But even through all of the challenges, I can honestly say….it’s making me better.  These recent situations have truly revealed the most deeply hidden traits about myself that I never fully brought to light.  In case you’re wondering…It does NOT feel good to learn these things, but man oh man is it necessary.  I asked God to give me a heart like His, and to break my heart of the things that breaks His heart….and He’s definitely doing it.  Piece by piece.  Layer by layer.  His ultimate goal is to get all the impurities out so that when He puts His face over my heart, He will only see His reflection.   Man, I love Him.  I guess I’m maturing, because it takes a mature Christian to say that despite all this discomfort, I’m so grateful for this process.  My life is far from perfect, I’m experiencing a lot of road blocks and things definitely don't always go my way, but I keep pressing, because at the end of the day, all I really want is "a heart like Yours." 
-Leah
Bible Study
*For more on this topic, check out the following scriptures:

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