This morning we had a Senior Appreciation Breakfast for our K-Life graduates. They came en masse with their parents and lawn chairs as we sat outside on a beautiful, cool blue sky Colorado morning. Many tears were shed as parents handed a letter to their son/daughter as they prepare to move into this new chapter in life. It was amazing to see these kids hug and cry with their parents as their biggest cheerleaders spoke words of love into their lives. A beautiful thing. I had the pleasure of sharing my heart with them. When I speak, I rarely write down what I will say. But on this particular occasion, I felt prompted to write out my speech. It's titled, "Our Life is a Journey of the Heart".
"This is an exciting time for all of us as a new chapter of life is about to turn over. But we are all in different places regarding this transition. Some of us are racing ahead to read and write what the next chapter has in store. Others are holding on to the now and are quite resistant to see what lies in the chapter and pages beyond. But we are all a part of the story. And the end of one chapter only marks the beginning of another.
God has uniquely designed you to accomplish something beautiful in this broken world.
I would like to leave you with two questions that I hope will echo into the next chapter of your journey. “To what will you apply your heart?” And to quickly follow that question with a second, “What breaks your heart?
We all have a heart condition. Our life is a journey of the heart. And God is greatly concerned with the matters of your heart. The Bible is full of references to the heart. It can start out a little ugly. The intention of our hearts are evil from our youth (Gen 8:21). The heart is deceitful above all things. But as the story unfolds, God steps in and exchanges beauty for what was once unappealing.
God searches the heart and tests the mind (Jer. 17:9). Man is looking on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart (I Sam 16:7). In fact, the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth the strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chron. 16:9). He offers a new heart and puts a new spirit inside of us. He removes from us our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26-27). We begin to pray “create in me a pure heart oh God” (Ps 51:10). He begins to deal with our broken and contrite hearts (Ps 51:17). We confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we believe it also in our hearts (Rom 10:9). We begin to love the Lord with all our heart and do likewise with our neighbor (Matt 22:37). And in one of my favorite words of Jesus, we find that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matt 6:21).
Our life is a journey of the heart. To what will you apply your heart? To what will you give your heart?
Our journey is not promised to be clear all the time. There are very unexpected turns and twists. One of my favorite Psalms speaks of the unique way of God’s path for our life. It is a path through the sea. His way goes through mighty waters. And his footprints can go unseen (Ps 77). This Psalm refers to the time when the Israelites were trapped with their backs to the sea and the Egyptian army was closing in. There was no way out, no way of escape. Who would have thought that the sea itself would become a passageway on dry ground? But that is just like our God. His paths are beyond tracing.
I love to read the writings, speeches, and sermons of Martin Luther King Jr. I want to share a quote with you from one of his sermons in 1956. “I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.”
Come what may.
We are all on a journey to discover what God’s will is for our lives. And it is said that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us the desires of our hearts. (Ps. 37:4) But those desires of our hearts are often not where we would think to find them.
I once heard these words, “Through our greatest pains come our greatest passions.” The things that break your heart are the very things that feed your passions. What are the things that keep you up at night? What are the things that disturb you the most? What do you get most passionate about? What makes you pound the table? What puts you on the edge of your seat?
God has uniquely designed you to accomplish something beautiful in this broken world.
“To what will you apply your heart?” And quickly follow that question with, “What breaks your heart?”
Give your heart fully to the One you love. And even when you go through times of trial and trouble, loneliness, or apathy, be sure to run back to him with all the passion that you had when you were in that place where you were “on fire” for God. He never wants us to hold ourselves back from him regardless of where we’ve been or what we’ve done.
Allow Him to break your heart for the things that break His heart. And in that brokenness you will find your way. You will find your path.
As you begin to open this new chapter in your life, may you follow passionately after Jesus Christ as he breaks your heart for the things that he desires you to pursue."
What simple but profound thoughts Luke...what an inspired message. You never cease to draw my heart to the things on God's...and I thank you for being a son who speaks the truth. I am so honored to call you my son. mama
Posted by: Tracey | May 10, 2009 at 07:40 PM