His Heart Went Out to Her

I scroll through my FB timeline. I see a post that stops me in my tracks. It features a photo of a beautiful, toddler boy. His eyes of an angel draw me in. So does his name. Bryson. The same name as my youngest grandson. I read further. My heart aches. He has been diagnosed with a rare cancer. His life expectancy is no more than 2-1/2 years. Per the medical team. I take time with this one. I look up scriptures which promise God's faithfulness and His miracle-working power. I share them with the family.

I really do want to be an imitator of Christ. He certainly talked the talk AND walked the walk to show us how to live. Take this one as an example: "As He approached the town gate, a dead man was being carried out — the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord SAW HER, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’” (Luke 7:11-14). HE SAW HER. He didn't just see her. He didn't just give her a "comment" or a "pat on the back" or "I hope you'll get better." He went over to the funeral procession and said "Get up" to the boy and he came back to life. Jesus was a do-something-about-it-kind-of-Savior.

The day before I see this "Bryson" photo, I receive a call from my daughter who is suffering from an extreme migraine headache. One that makes her retreat to her bed in a dark room. Now, please understand this is a powerful woman who just doesn't yield to pain -- not even with natural childbirth two times. I know this calls for a warrior mama's intercessory prayer. I go to my "war room" and am in full-on warfare prayer mode. I'm pleased to say that while we pray, my daughter's pain decreases and eventually goes away! Thanks be to God!

What an intenseness I have for praying for MY child. In that "Jesus" story above, it says "His heart went out to her". His heart joined hers. He felt her grief. He met her emotions with kindness, gentleness and mercy. He went to work to show His power and healing. I desire a heart like His.

What part of this blog speaks to you the most today? Bryson? The death of a child? A grieving widow? Or, the heart of Jesus? Put it altogether, God is there -- right in the middle of our lives. He shows up because His heart goes out to those who need a miracle. He shows up for me today. I want to be more like Him. But, I know there are many who need a miracle today. I can't help but think that I am writing this blog to remind YOU that He is the ONE whose heart goes out to you. Jesus can and will work a miracle in your situation. Why? Because He loves you and His heart goes out to you. You may feel that you are going to drown in your own tears, but hear the voice of our Savior. He is whispering to your heart, “Don’t cry.”

Whatever the circumstances of your life, hear this widow tell you: Jesus has a heart for you and He is ready to perform a miracle in your life today. Dry your tears, hold your head up and trust in the Miracle Maker. For all of us, may our hearts go out to others -- just like Jesus.

The Divine Rearranger

You’ve probably heard about those designers that go into a home, take all the existing furnishings and décor items and simply rearrange it all and, whoa la – the overall look is more welcoming, open, spacious and less cluttered. One piece of furniture can be moved to an entirely different location and that piece suddenly looks like a million bucks. Another piece of furniture can be moved to a wall and now the room is opened up with much more space and better functionaiity. The designer can find an old table or chair in the garage and repaint it or reupholster it and suddenly it's turned into a coveted piece of art. Junk becomes beauty.

You know where I’m going with this – right? God is that kind of designer, too. He takes all the junk that has been in our lives -- all the crud, the emotional issues, the dysfunction, the weaknesses and He either rearranges it or He may get rid of it altogether because we just don’t need it anymore. But, sometimes He allows us to keep it and He repurposes it. He can still use it. He just uses it for something new and beautiful.

I Iove going to a Chazown event where attendees are invited to go through their timeline and identify the good things, places, events and people that positively impacted their iives. As wonderful as it is to remember those sweet times and people, there’s also the need to identify those events, people and things that were hurtful and disappointing to our lives. At the time, those hurtful things seemed like the worst times ever: maybe it was rejection, an abuse, a divorce, a financial disaster, the death of a loved one. At the Chazown event, the leader asks “Can you see how God used the experiences in your timeline to show you His ultimate destiny and purpose for your life?” And different ones will share -- like the gal who admitted she had been raped as a child but today she is a member of a women’s advocacy group – for troubled women in marriages or the workplace. Also those who went through financial diasaster and today they teach financial planning. Others that went through extramarital affairs and today they are family and marital counselors. God takes the imbalance, dysfunction and rearranges it for good.

I'm reminded of a Bill & Gloria Gaither song that explains it so well: "He made something beautiful, something good;
All my confusion He understood;
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife,
But He made something beautiful of my life."

The Lenten season began on Wednesday. Not counting Sundays, it's 40 days of "makeover" or "rearrangement" -- out with the old, in with the new. Out with the junk, and in with the fresh and new. It's the time to dive deeper into God's Word, getting body and soul free of toxicity, and being in a place of openness to His call on our lives. Just as those home rearrangers give homes a fresh new makeover, perhaps we need a makeover in our lives. Our makeover takes place as we submit to the ONE Who created us.....and He starts from the inside out! Old things will be passed away and the NEW YOU -- will be revealed. We just have to let go and put our lives into the hands of the Master Designer Specialist. The choice is ours. All we have to do is say, "Have your way in me. Now, let the transformation BEGIN!"