Just as a reminder…God is always in control. No matter what is going on. He’s always there for you and He has a plan and a purpose for each and every one of you!
Don’t forget what Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Even when it feels like God isn’t paying attention to you, He is always watching out for His children!!!
In Christ,
Jocelyn
“One day a young man was standing in the middle of a town, proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. “Yes!” They all agreed, it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why you’re heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man turned to look at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit together quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were even deep gouges where whole pieces were missing! The people stared. “How can he say his heart is more beautiful?!” they thought. The young man looked deeper at the old man’s heart, saw its state, and laughed. “You must be joking!” He said. “Compare your heart with mine. Mine is perfect and your is a perfect mess of scars and tears.”
“Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking, but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar on my heart represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in mine. But because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes, I have given pieces of my heart away and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges. Giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open; reminding me of the love I have for these people, too. And I hope that someday, maybe, they will return and fill the space I have waiting. So… now do you see what true beauty is?”
The young man walked over silently, tears streaming down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his own perfect, young and beautiful heart and ripped a piece out. With trembling hands, he offered it to the old man. The old man took his offering and placed it in his own heart as he took a piece from his own old, scarred heart and placed it in the wound of the younger man’s heart. They fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart; not perfect anymore, but more beautiful then ever, since love from the old man’s heart now flowed into his. The two men embraced and walked away side by side.”
~Author Unknown
What a beautiful picture of Jesus’ love for us.
This past week a friend of mine, Hope, came to visit me and my family for a week. We had so much fun and God taught both of us many, many lessons; ones that we did not really expect.
We were (and are still in the process of) learning how to have a “Heart of Wisdom”. This week we figured out what it meant to make sure that things are constantly “going in a good direction” and to find good in everything God lays in our path. So many times, God puts things in each of our paths that we don’t expect or neccessarily desire, but we have a choice about what we do and how we react in each of those circumstances and situations.
Sometimes, I get tired of learning life’s lessons and waiting on God. I just wish that everything would go perfectly, but then I start to think about where I would be if I didn’t need God to teach and chastise me. Knowing me, I would get a big head and maybe even start to believe that I know more about me and my life than God does.
This past week, I did a lot of “waiting’. I waited on people and circumstances, I waited for God to write something amazing on my bedroom wall… I waited for answers, direction, fulfillment. I waited for friends and desires. I waited on life to happen I guess you could say. I asked God “What for?” and “Why not?” so many times and the only answer I got was, ”Have faith and wait.” As Beth Moore puts it, “If you look at the letters of F-A-I-T-H and W-A-I-T, you will see that three-fourths of WAITing is FAITH.” [my paraphrase]
When I think about faith and waiting I always think of one certain animal. I love to think about how it has to go through hardships to become the beautiful creature God designed it to be. God watches over it, shapes it, molds it, and sees its every move. It probably doesn’t understand why certain things happen and why it has to wait, but it has to have faith that God will see it through. When I see this animal I am reminded that God sees me and takes notice of my every action.
In Faith,
Brianna
To me, faith in God is… being willing to wait and learn;
to stop and listen. It is believing that every mountaintop
experience and valley hardship has a purpose.
It is entrusting myself to One I cannot see. It is stepping
out in faith when God gives direction; trusting
in what is still a little unclear.
This song is so tru…you haven’t lived until you’ve lived by faith.
