I am, indeed, in prison now
In body, but my mind
Is free to study Christ, and how
Unto me He is kind.
For though men keep my outward man
Within their locks and bars,
Yet by the faith of Christ I can
Mount higher than the stars.
—John Bunyan
Father, I abandon myself into Your hands,
do with me what You will.
Whatever You may do, I thank you;
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
and in all Your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into Your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to You with all the love of my heart,
for I love You, O Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into Your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence, for You are my Father.
Amen.
– Charles de Foucauld
Come, My Soul, Your Plea Prepare
Come, my soul, your plea prepare;
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.
With my burden I begin,
Lord, remove this load of sin!
Let Thy blood for sinners split
Set my conscience free from guilt.
Lord, I come to Thee for rest,
Take possession of my breast;
There Thy blood-bought right maintain,
And without a rival reign.
As the image in the glass,
Answers the beholder’s face;
Thus unto my heart appear,
Print Thine own resemblance there.
While I am a pilgrim here,
Let Thy love my spirit cheer;
As my guide, my guard, my friend,
Lead me to my journey’s end.
– John Newton
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Hark, My Soul! It is the Lord!
Hark, my soul, it is the Lord;
’Tis thy Savior, hear His word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,
”Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou Me?”
“I delivered thee when bound,
And when wounded, healed thy wound;
Sought thee wandering, set thee right,
Turned thy darkness into light.
“Can a woman’s tender care
Cease towards the child she bear?
Yes, she may forgetful be,
Yet will I remember thee.”
“Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.”
“Thou shalt see My glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of My throne shalt be:
Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou Me?”
Lord, it is my chief complaint
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love Thee, and adore;
O, for grace to love Thee more!
– William Cowper
— Psalm 42:9
Can you answer this, believer? Can you find any reason why you are so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told you that the night would never end in day? Who told you that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long stretches of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told you that the winter of your discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice and hail to deeper snow and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Don’t you know that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Be full of hope! Hope forever! For God does not fail you. Do you know that God loves you in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in the day, and God’s love is as true to you now as it was in your brightest moments. No father chastens always. The Lord hates the rod as much as you do; He only cares to use it for that reason that would make you willing to receive it—namely, it brings about your lasting good. You will yet climb Jacob’s ladder with the angels and behold Him who sits at the top of it—your covenant God. You will yet, amidst the splendors of eternity, forget the trials of time or only remember them to bless the God who led you through them and works your lasting good by them. Come, sing in the midst of tribulation. Rejoice even while passing through the furnace. Make the wilderness blossom like the rose! Cause the desert to ring with your exulting joys, for these light afflictions will soon be over, and then, forever with the Lord, your bliss shall never wane.
Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou are dear;
Only believe and you shalt see,
That Christ is all in all to thee.
— Morning and Evening (Charles Spurgeon) - July 21st: Evening
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
—Ephesians 5:15–21 (ESV)
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He who would serve God must begin by praising God, for a grateful heart is the mainspring of obedience. We must offer the salt of gratitude with the sacrifice of obedience; our lives should be anointed with the precious oil of thankfulness. As soldiers march to music, so while we walk in the paths of righteousness we should keep step to the notes of thanksgiving. Larks sing as they mount, so should we magnify the Lord for His mercies while we are winging our way to heaven.
…
The fire of gratitude will help to warm us—heap on the big logs of loving memories. No cold shall freeze the genial current of soul, our praise shall flow on when brooks and rivers are bound in chains of ice. Let us see which among us can best rejoice in the Lord in ill weathers.
…
Beloved, after all it is but a light thing to render to our heavenly Father our poor thanks, after He has given us our lives, maintained us in being, saved us our souls through the precious redemption of Jesus Christ, given us to be His children, and made us heirs of eternal glory.
…
He gives us breath, shall we not breathe out His praise? He fills our mouth with good things, shall we not speak well of His name?
Words are but air and tongues but clay,
And His compassions are divine.
…
There ought not to be brought into the house a loaf of bread without thanksgiving; nor should we cast a coal upon the fire without gratitude. We eat like dogs if we sit down to our meals without devoutly blessing God. We live like serpents if we never rise to devout recognition of the Lord’s kindness. We ought not to put on our garments without adoring God, or take them off to rest in our beds without praising Him. Each breath of air should inspire us with thanks, and the blood in our veins should circulate gratitude throughout our system.
…
The difficult point is to give thanks to Him for the bitter things, for the disguised blessings, for the love tokens that come to us from Him in black envelopes, for those benefits which travel to us via crucis, by way of the cross, which are generally the most heavily laden wagons that ever come from our Father’s country. We are to give thanks for the dark things, the cutting things, the things which plague and vex us, and disquiet our spirits, for these are among the ‘all things’ for which we ought to praise and bless God.
Doubtless, if our eyes were opened, like those of Elijah’s servant, we should see our trials to be amongst our choicest treasures. If we exercise the far-seeing eye of faith and not the dim eyes of sense, we shall discover that nothing can be more fatal to us than to be without affliction, and that nothing is more beneficial to us than to be tried as with fire. Therefore we will glory in tribulations also; we will bless and magnify the name of the Lord that He leads us through the wilderness that He may prove us, and that He may fit us for dwelling by-and-by in the promised land.
…
The day will come, when we shall fulfill our text in the widest sense, for then we shall give thanks to God, at the winding up of the drama, of human history, for everything that has happened, from the fall even to the destruction of the wicked. We may not be able to do so now. Our eye sees the gigantic evil, and does not see the over-ruling good which, like a boundless sea rolls over all: the dreadful mysteries of evil make us tremble as we think of them; but the day may come when, with the Lord Jesus, we may not only bless God for electing love, but may even say, ‘I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.’
The day may come when even the darkest side of the divine decrees, and the profoundest depths of the divine action, shall cause us to adore with gratitude, and when even that which can least be understood in providence, shall no longer be the subject of awe-struck wonder, but of unspeakable delight. We shall trace the line of perfection along the course of the divine decrees and workings, and though the way of the Lord may have seemed to us to be inscrutable, we shall then adore Him for that wondrous display of all His attributes— His justice, His love, His truth, His faithfulness, His omnipotence — which shall blaze forth with tenfold splendor.
In heaven we shall give thanks to God always for all things, without exception, and throughout eternity we shall magnify His holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us do it as best we can today, God’s Spirit helping us.
…
To the fullest performance of this duty there must be a subordination of ourselves to the will of God. We must not desire to have our own way; we must be content to say, “Not my will, but thine be done.” I cannot give thanks to God always for all things till my old self is put down. While self rules, the hungry horseleech is in the heart, and that is fatal to gratitude.
…
There is no higher commendation for any course of action or for any virtue to a Christian man than to tell him that it will honour God. Will it dishonour God? He will shrink from it though mines of gold should tempt him. Will it honour God? The believer rushes forward to it though floods and flames lie in his way. A grateful spirit is a blessed and yet cheap way of honouring God, for it brings to us its own return. Like mercy, it is “twice blessed,” it blesses us in the giving and honours God in the receiving. Let the Christian see to it that he abounds in it.
…
One of the truest excellencies of a spirit of perpetual thanksgiving is this, that it calms us when we are glad and it cheers us when we are sorrowful—a double benefit; it allays the feverish heat at the same time that it mitigates the rigorous cold. If a man be rich, and God has given him a thankful spirit, he cannot be too rich. If he will give thanks to God, he may be worth millions, and they will never hurt him; and on the other hand, if a man has learned to give thanks to God, and he becomes poor, he cannot be too poor, he will be able to bear up under the severest penury. The rich man should learn to find God in all things; the poor man should learn to find all things in God, and there is not much difference when you come to the bottom of these two causes. One child of God will be as grateful and as happy, as blessed and as rejoicing, as another, if he be but satisfied still to give God thanks. There is no evercoming a man a man who has climbed into this spirit. “I will banish you,” said a persecutor of the saints. “But you cannot do that,” said he, “for I am at home everywhere where Christ is.” “I shall take away all your property,” said he. “But I have none,” said the other, “and if I had you could not take away Christ from me, and as long as He is left I shall be rich.” “I will take away your good name,” cried the persecutor. “That is gone already,” said the Christian, “and I count it joy to be counted the offscouring of all things for Christ’s sake.” “But I will put you in prison.” “You may do as you please, but I shall be always free, for where Christ is there is liberty.” “But I shall take away your life,” said he. “Ay, well,” said the other, “then I shall be in heaven, which is the truest life, so that you cannot hurt me.” This was a brave defiance to throw down at the feet of the foe. It is not in the power of the enemy to injure the man of God when once self is dethroned and the heart has learned to be resigned to the will of God. O, ye are great, ye are strong, ye are rich, ye are mighty, when you have bowed yourselves to the will of the Most High! Stoop that you may conquer, bow that you may triumph, yield that you may get the mastery. It is when we are nothing that we are everything—when we are weak we are strong, when we have utterly become annihilated as to self, and God is all in all, it is then that we are filled with all the fullness of God. May the Holy Ghost conduct us into this spirit of perpetual thankfulness.
…
Beloved, our crusty tempers and sour faces will never be evangelists. They may become messengers of Satan, but they will never become helpers of the gospel. To labour to make other people happy, is one of the grand things a Christian should always try to do. In little things we ought not to be everlastingly worrying, fidgeting, finding little difficulties and spying out faults in others. I believe that to a faulty man everybody is faulty; but there are better people in the world than you have dreamed of, sir, and when you are better you will find them out.
…
If you want to catch flies, try honey.
…
Put into your speech love rather than bitterness, and you will prevail.
…
Beloved, may the Lord give us evermore a thankful spirit, and when we talk to each other, let it not be our habit as it is ordinarily with Englishmen—to complain of this and of that, but let us thank God and testify of His goodness.
…
…dwell not upon our miseries but our mercies. Let us speak much of what God has given rather than of that which He has in love withheld from us; blessing Him rather than speaking ill of our neighbors, or complaining of our circumstances.
– “Always, And For All Things” - Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol XIX (C.H. Spurgeon)
If you want to catch flies, try honey.
Beloved? (gentle)
With this pithy statement, in mind, I’d like to make an appeal to our heart, please?
Not that I’m trying to compare the heart to a fly, necessarily – although, I might – but rather, I’d like to try and use words and phrases that are sweet in nature, like honey: gentle, kind, inviting – tender, to (hopefully) convince and compel us to give thanks in all times, even when it’s hard.
The heart, like a fly, isn’t only attracted to sweet things. It too, has a tendency to gravitate towards anything with a distinct curiosity for that which is…interesting, engaging, attractive. The fly buzzes about haphazardly, does it not? And, does he have any distinguishing taste whatsoever? No, beloved. (gentle) He wallows in both honey and that which is detestable alike.
Our heart isn’t much better. (sigh) It seeks comfort, affirmation, and pleasure - mostly. The heart is a…fickle thing, it seems – vulnerable, susceptible, and easily fatigued. (grieving)
The heart is delicate - aye. Yet, it is infinitely precious. For the heart is not only that which circulates nutrients throughout our body but, in a spiritual sense, beats with the capacity and aspirations of our Creator and Lord. It may be capricious, marred, broken, but it isn’t forgotten. We aren’t forgotten. God has, in His own mercy, and for His own sake, fixed His Love upon us.
Therefore, let us Together, please, speak softly with our soul, in an honorable, respectable manner okay? (gentle)
We are told, in Scripture, beloved, to give thanks always. Left unto itself, the implied benefits are more than sufficient, however, I love how Spurgeon expounds further and proves its advantage beyond the seemingly obvious, “…a grateful heart is the mainspring of obedience.“
Aye, obedience is hard. Obedience is…contrary to our human nature. And yet, obedience is clearly marked throughout Scripture as being correlated with blessing and peace. Obedience is commanded.
This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. — Deuteronomy 26:16
Indeed. May it be so, O Lord. (pleading)
Beloved? (gentle) Some days are happy, some are sad. Sometimes we stumble and fall, other times we shine bright. Whatever uncertainty or variability is perceived in our lot, one thing is certain: God is good. He is sovereign over all things, and He lovingly orchestrates His purposes for His glory and our good. We can rest in that. I believe He uses fear and trials to call us back to Him.
Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. — Hosea 6:1
We can truly give thanks – always – beloved; for every circumstance, whether we like it or not, whether it brings with it joy or sorrow, for it is intentionally crafted by God Most High. And that, that, is all we need to know. That is sufficient. Let us take Him at His Word, let us take in His Word as our daily bread, it will sustain us and keep us. He will lead us Home.
Give thanks, always, O, my soul; the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever!
When we hit a nail with a hammer, the whole of the shock received by the large head of the nail passes into the point without any of it being lost, although it is only a point. If the hammer and the head of the nail were infinitely big it would be just the same. The point of the nail would transmit this infinite shock at the point to which it was applied.
Extreme affliction, which means physical pain, distress of soul, and social degradation, all at the same time, constitutes the nail. The point is applied at the very centre of the soul. The head of the nail is all the necessity which spreads throughout the totality of space and time.
Affliction is a marvel of divine technique. It is a simple and ingenious device which introduces into the soul of a finite creature the immensity of force, blind, brutal, and cold. The infinite distance which separates God from the creature is entirely concentrated into one point to pierce the soul in its centre…
He whose soul remains ever turned in the direction of God while the nail pierces it, finds himself nailed on to the very centre of the universe. It is the true centre, it is not in the middle, it is beyond space and time, it is God. In a dimension which does not belong to space, which is not in time, which is indeed quite a different dimension, this nail has pierced a hole through all creation, through the thickness of the screen which separates the soul from God. In this marvelous dimension the soul, without leaving the place and the instant where the body to which it is united is situated, can cross the tonality of space and time and come into the very presence of God.
It is at the intersection of creation and its Creator. This point of intersection is the point of intersection of the branches of the Cross.
— Simone Weil
When I have said my quiet say,
When I have sung my little song,
How sweetly, sweetly dies the day,
The valley and the hill along;
How sweet the summons, ‘Come away,’
That calls me from the busy throng!
I thought beside the water’s flow
Awhile to lie beneath the leaves,
I thought in Autumn’s harvest glow
To rest my head upon the sheaves;
But lo! methinks the day was brief
And cloudy; flower, nor fruit nor leaf
I bring, and yet accepted, free
And blest, my Lord, I come to Thee.
What matter now for promise lost
Through blast of spring or summer rains!
What matter now for purpose crost,
For broken hopes and wasted pains!
What if the olive little yields!
What if the grape be blighted! Thine
The corn upon a thousand fields,
Upon a thousand hills the vine.
My spirit bare before Thee stands;
I bring no gift, I ask no sign,
I come to Thee with empty hands,
The surer to be filled from Thine.
— Dora Greenwell
Lord, what is my confidence which I have in this life? Or what is the greatest comfort I can derive from anything under heaven? Is it not Thou, O Lord, whose mercies are without number? Where hath it ever been well with me without Thee? Or when could it be ill with me, when Thou wert present?
I had rather be poor for Thee than rich without Thee. I rather choose to be a pilgrim on earth with Thee than without Thee to possess heaven. Where Thou art there is heaven, and where Thou art not there is death and hell…All men seek their own gain; Thou settest forward my salvation and my profit only, and turnest all things to my good…
In Thee therefore, O Lord God, I place my whole hope and refuge; on Thee I rest my tribulation and anguish; for I find all to be weak and inconstant, whatsoever I behold out of Thee. For many friends cannot profit, nor strong helpers assist, nor prudent counselors give a profitable answer, nor any precious substance deliver, nor any place, however retired and lonely, give shelter, unless Thou Thyself dost assist, help, strengthen, console, instruct, and guard us.
For all things that seem to belong to the attainment of peace and felicity, without Thee, are nothing, and do bring in truth no felicity at all. Thou therefore art the End of all that is good, the Height of life, the Depth of all that can be spoken; and to hope in Thee above all things is the strongest comfort of Thy servants. To Thee therefore do I lift up mine eyes; in Thee, my God, the Father of mercies, do I put my trust…Protect and keep the soul of me the meanest of Thy servants amidst so many dangers of this corruptible life, and by Thy grace accompanying me direct it along the way of peace to its home of everlasting brightness.
— Thomas A Kempis
You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
— Song of Solomon 4:7
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But I, through the abundance of Your steadfast love, will enter Your house.
— Psalm 5:7
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Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?
— Luke 24:26
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We do not want merely to see beauty — we want to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.
— C.S. Lewis
O, beloved!
Isn’t this what we truly desire, at the very core? To be able to enter in to Beauty itself, Love Himself?
It’s as if we’re standing outside His house, longing to enter, peering in through the window expectantly, up on tiptoes; seeing through the glass the extravagant Feast of Love He is preparing, and salivating at the prospect of being invited in to dine and dance and celebrate the Victory with Him, with one another!
It’s as if we’ve been traversing more and more of the wilderness, growing ever closer to the Promised Land - our Home! - but He hasn’t given us permission to cross over the Jordan just yet.
It’s as if we get fleeting glances of His glory from time to time here, often when we least expect it, but we haven’t yet been given eyes to behold His glory in its entirety, for He is Light itself, too bright for us to gaze upon until we too have been glorified and have been made like Him, fully.
O, beloved! We see Beauty here, yes - in the trees and the clouds and the flowers, in one another. But we long for more than to just see it! We long to be swallowed up in it, fully enveloped; united with it, receiving it into ourselves, bathing in Beauty even, until we become part of it and it becomes part of us, yes?! (gentle, hopeful, expectant)
Since before the creation of the world, beloved, He has been Love - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, delighting in one another, desiring to please one another, living in perfect communion and community Together. And He is gracious enough to invite us to enter into that Love! He, like us, knows that to be able to give Love to another is the greatest gift, brings the greatest Joy! And so, He calls us - gently, tenderly, just like we like it - to come. He provides a way for us to enter in, beloved - in to perfect Beauty, perfect Peace, perfect Rest, perfect Tenderness and Gentleness and Pleasure!
But we often reject His wooing, His provision, beloved. Maybe not consciously or from a place of outright rebellion, but by thinking, believing that our way is better than His way. (gentle) C.S. Lewis says it well when he writes: ‘Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea…We are far too easily pleased.’ We are like that ignorant child, beloved, are we not? (tender) Making a mess in the mud; believing, foolishly, that the ‘here and now’ is the best there is, the best He has to give us?! But no, beloved! O, no! (suddenly quiet and O so tender, speaking slowly and deliberately and gently)…His best is yet to come.
And so we dream, beloved, we imagine! (excited) Even though we are the ignorant child in the slum who has never taken a holiday at the sea, we read of the sea, we speak of the sea, we believe in the sea - that it does exist, truly, though we have not yet seen it. And beloved?! (excitement building) We anticipate our coming holiday to the sea, the one which He has surely promised us in His Word! We anticipate entering in to His presence, to His Love, to the Feast which we can see dimly now on tiptoes through the window, beloved! The Great Celebration, the Great Wedding, the renewal and recreation of All Things! Where we will no longer merely behold Beauty, but pass into it, receive it, and enter into it, Together, for all of Time and Eternity. May He give us eyes to see. And may it be so - for His glory and for ours as well.
Amen.
Yes, dearest Jesus! I am truly Yours, by every tie which can make me Yours. I am Yours by the gift of God the Father, by Your marriage contract with me, by the Holy Spirit anointing me in You, making me One with You — and in You — before the world.
Yes, generous Lord! I come to buy from You with no money in hand — because I know very well, through Your teaching, that neither the obedience of people or of angels can purchase any connection to You. It is only through Your own precious merits and Your atoning blood.
So now, Lord, possessing You, I possess All Things. I will give up everything else, and forget about everything else, since Jesus is mine, and I am His, in time and to all eternity.
Precious, precious Jesus! I bless Your name that I hear Your voice. Your loud and powerful knocks, by Your Word and by Your Spirit, have made me eager for You to come in.
Put in Your hand, Lord, by the door opening, and open my heart. Give me grace to receive You, to embrace You, to love You, to delight in You, to welcome You.
I would say, in the warmth and desire of my soul, and in the language of Your own most sacred words: ‘Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, everlasting doors, and the King of Glory will come in!’
And what have You promised, Lord, when the door of my poor heart is opened? You have said, ‘I will come in to him, and eat with him, and he with Me.’
Bountiful Lord! Will You really give me the precious privilege of a union with You? Communion with You and Your graces? Will You feed and feast me at my poor house? I have nothing to set before You; I can offer nothing good enough for You to accept. But I hear You say, ‘I am the bread of life, and the bread of God that comes down from heaven. I am All, and provide all!’
Lord, I fall down under a deep sense of my vileness and Your glory, my emptiness and Your all-sufficiency.
Blessed Master! Be my all in all, and let my poor soul feast on Your fullness. Amen.
— Robert Hawker
The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
— Psalm 126:3
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The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
— Kahlil Gibran
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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
— Isaiah 43:2
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I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord…
May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Great is the Lord!’
— Psalm 40:1-3, 16
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Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, but with scarcely any reference to the mercy and help that God has provided them.
But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state will come forward joyously and say, ‘I will not speak about myself, but to the honor of my God. He has brought me out of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings; and He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. The Lord has done great things for me — I am glad.’ This summary of experience is the very best that any child of God can present.
It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and sadly we acknowledge this, but it is just as true that we have an all-sufficient Savior who overcomes these corruptions and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has ‘brought us out to a place of abundance.’
The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through them all and preserved us until today. Our griefs cannot spoil the melody of our praise; we consider them to be the ‘bass line’ of our life’s song, ‘The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.’
– Morning and Evening (June 9th - Morning), C. H. Spurgeon
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For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out of the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.’
— Deuteronomy 8:7-10
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Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise! Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You. All the earth worships You and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.’ Come and see what God has done: He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot…
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of His praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For You, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our backs; You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.
— Psalm 66:1-6, 8-12
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What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us All Things?
— Romans 8:31-32
O, beloved!
It’s so easy to dwell on the continual conflicts, the deep afflictions, the sad adversities, the sinfulness of our hearts, isn’t it? (gentle) For much of our lives we feel like we’re stumbling aimlessly around in the dark here, a veil over our faces, barely able to perceive Truth and Beauty and Love through the pain and heartache common to man in this vast wilderness. We get tunnel vision, caught up in ourselves. We feel the Carver’s knife on our hearts, whittling away; we know the intense heat of the Potter’s oven, proving us - and our minds quickly go to how much it all hurts. The cutting, the fire, the wandering.
But beloved? The cup that was burned was meant to hold wine - a Feast! The lute that was hollowed was meant to soothe our spirits - a Song! And all that seemingly aimless wandering — it was meant to lead us to a good land, a land in which we will lack nothing - a Home! Yes, ‘we went through fire and through water; yet [He has] brought us out to a place of abundance!’
And what shall be our response, beloved?
Are we not exceedingly glad? Exceedingly grateful? Desiring to sing all the louder, praise Him all the more fervently? For in the intimate knowledge of such grief and despair and longing, has He not carved out the capacity in us for an even greater, fuller joy?
Our Lord, He has not just barely saved us, not just been vaguely near us in some ‘spiritualized’ way during our sojourn here. He has not just given us health and wealth and a comfortable life, nor has He just haphazardly written our names down in some book to make sure we get to go to heaven someday. No, beloved - no! How much more He has done! How much more He has given!
We who were living in darkness, He has graciously given Light! We who were covered in dirt and grime and filth, He has washed clean in the living Water! We who were dead in our sins, He has miraculously breathed new Life into! We who were lost are now Found! We who were poor are now Rich! We who were naked are now Clothed! We were cursed and are now Blessed; we were prisoners and are now Free; we were hungry and are now Full; we were doomed to eternal suffering and are now undeservedly granted Eternal Glory!
O, beloved! Do you see why we must not live in the valley of despair here? (gentle) Why we must not let the Enemy divert our eyes from all that our Father has already given, has already promised? ‘The Lord has done great things for us!’ Not little things, not meaningless things, not things that are only relevant once we are with Him fully. He has graciously given us All Things! Already! Even now! Every. Last. Thing. Is. Ours. In. Him. (beyond amazed)
O, beloved! ‘Our griefs cannot spoil the melody of our praise!’ Oh no! Because of our grief, because of the Ache, we sing all the louder, with all the more fervor and passion and determination! Our longing for Him is increased, we seek Him all the more! That which has given us sorrow, now gives us joy, beloved - and, Together, we are glad.
Thou know’st I love thee, dearest Lord,
But oh! I long to soar
Far from this world of sin and woe,
And learn to love thee more.
—Unknown
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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.
—Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV)
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What is meant by a heart of flesh? It means a heart that can feel on account of sin—a heart that can bleed when the arrows of God stick fast in it; it means a heart that can yield when the gospel makes its attacks—a heart that can be impressed when the seal of God’s word comes upon it; it means a heart is warm, for life is warm—a heart that can think, a heart that can aspire, a heart that can love—putting all in one—a heart of flesh means that new heart and right spirit which God giveth to the regenerate.
…
But wherein does this heart of flesh consist; wherein does its tenderness consist? Well, its tenderness consists in three things. There is a tenderness of conscience. Men who have lost their stony hearts are afraid of sin, even before sin they are afraid of it. The very shadow of evil across their path frightens them. The temptation is enough for them, they flee from it as from a serpent; they would not dally and toy with it, lest they should be betrayed. Their conscience is alarmed even at the approach of evil, away they fly; and in sin, for even tender hearts do sin, they are uneasy. As well might a man seek to obtain quiet rest on a pillow stuffed with thorns, as the tender conscience get any peace while a man in sinning. And then, after sin—here comes the pinch—the heart of flesh bleeds as though it were wounded to its very core. It hates and loathes and detests itself that ever it should have gone astray. Ah, stony heart, you can think of sin with pleasure, you can live in sin and not care about it; and after sin you can roll the sweet morsel under your tongue and say, “Who is my master? I care for none; my conscience does not accuse me.” But not so the tender broken heart. Before sin, and in sin, and after sin, it smarts and cries out to God. So also in duty as well as in sin, the new heart is tender. Hard hearts care nothing for God’s commandment; hearts of flesh wish to be obedient to every statute. “Only let me know my Master’s will and I will do it.” The hearts of flesh when they feel that the commandment has been omitted, or that the command has been broken, mourn and lament before God. Oh! there are some hearts of flesh that cannot forgive themselves, if they have been lax in prayer, if they have not enjoyed the Sabbath-day, if they feel that they have not given their hearts to God’s praise as they should. These duties which hearts of stone trifle with and despise, hearts of flesh value and esteem. If the heart of flesh could have its way, it would never sin, it would be as perfect as its Father who is in heaven, and it would keep God’s command without flaw of omission or of commission.
…
I believe a heart of flesh, again, is tender, not only with regard to sin and duty, but with regard to suffering. A heart of stone can hear God blasphemed and laugh at it; but our blood runs cold to hear God dishonoured when we have a heart of flesh. A heart of stone can bear to see its fellow creatures perish and despise their destruction; but the heart of flesh is very tender over others.
…
Hearts of flesh repent even at the very thought of sin. To have indulged a foul imagination, to have flattered a lustful thought, and to have allowed it to tarry even for a minute is quite enough to make a heart of flesh grieved and rent before God with pain. The heart of stone says, when it has done great iniquity, “Oh, it is nothing, it is nothing! Who am I that I should be afraid of God’s law?” But not so the heart of flesh. Great sins are little to the stony heart, little sins are great to the heart of flesh—if little sins there be. Conscience in the heart of stone is seared as with a hot iron; conscience in the heart of flesh is raw and very tender; like the sensitive plant, it coils up its leaves at the slightest touch, it cannot bear the presence of evil; it is like a delicate consumptive, who feels every wind and is affected by every change of atmosphere. God give us such a blessedly tender conscience as that.
…
The natural will is stern and stubborn, and you must rend it up by the roots; but the renewed will is gentle and pliable, feels the divine influence, and sweetly yields to it. To complete the picture, in the tender heart there is a tenderness of the affections. The hard heart does not love God, but the renewed heart does. The hard heart is selfish, cold, stolid. “Why should I weep for sin? Why should I love the Lord? Why should I give my heart to Christ?” The heart of flesh says—
”Thou know’st I love thee, dearest Lord,
But oh! I long to soar
Far from this world of sin and woe,
And learn to love thee more.”
O may God give us a tenderness of affection, that we may love God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves.
Now, the privileges of this renewed heart are these. “Tis here the Spirit dwells, ‘tis here that Jesus rests.” The soft heart is ready now to receive every spiritual blessing. It is fitted to yield every heavenly fruit to the honour and praise of God.
…
A soft heart is the best defense against sin, while it is the best preparative for heaven. A tender heart is the best means of watchfulness against evil, while it is also the best means of preparing us for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall shortly descend from heaven.
– “The Stony Heart Removed” - Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol VIII (C.H. Spurgeon)
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“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you…
—Job 12:7 (ESV)
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Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest…—Psalm 55:6 (ESV)
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Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
—Matthew 6:26 (ESV)
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The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
—Psalm 90:10 (ESV)
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[31] He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. [32] It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
—Matthew 13:31–32 (ESV)
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[22] Thus says the Lord GOD: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. [23] On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. [24] And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”
—Ezekiel 17:22–24 (ESV)
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The swiftest things are the softest things. A bird is active, because a bird is soft. A stone is helpless, because a stone is hard. The stone must by its own nature go downwards, because hardness is weakness. The bird can of its nature go upwards, because fragility is force. In perfect force there is a kind of frivolity, an airiness that can maintain itself in the air.
…
It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.
—Orthodoxy (G.K. Chesterton)
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Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows?
—Isaiah 60:8 (ESV)
“Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth.“ Be not like the unclean bird, that will devour all kinds of filth; but be like the dove, that liveth on the “good corn of the kingdom.” And be ye sure that you are like them, loving and kind to one another; and like them, always mourn when you lose your mate; weep when your Jesus is gone from you, and you lose His delightful presence. Be ye like the dove in all these things.
…
Who are these that fly as the doves to their windows? Where should the dove fly to else but its dovecot? The word means the dovecot, where the doves live, the little pigeon holes, into which the doves enter and dwell. The joy of the church is, that the poor sinner does not fly to man, nor to the law, but flies to Christ, the dovecot! I can recollect when, like a poor dove, sent out by Noah from his hand, I flew over the wide expanse of waters, and hoped to find some place where I might rest my wearied wing. Up towards the north I flew; and my eye looked keenly through the mist and darkness, if perhaps it might find some floating substance, on which my soul might rest its foot, but it found nothing. Again it turned its wing, and flapped it, but not so rapidly as before, across that deep water that knew no shore; but still there was no rest. The raven had found his resting-place upon a floating body, and was feeding itself upon the carrion of some drowned man’s carcass; but my poor soul found none. I went on: thought I saw a ship floating out to sea; it was the ship of the law; and I thought I would put my feet on its canvass, or rest myself on its cordage for a time, and find some refuge. But ah! it was an airy phantom, on which I could not rest; for my foot had no right to rest on the law, I had not kept it, and the soul that keepeth it not must die. At last I saw the barque Christ Jesus—that happy ark; and I thought I would fly thither; but my poor wing was weary, and I could not fly no further, and down I sank into the water; but as providence would have it, when my wings were flagging, and I dropped into the stream to be drowned, just below me was the roof of the ark, and I saw a hand put out from it, that took me, and said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore I have not delivered the soul of my turtle dove into the company of the wicked; come in, come in!” and then I found I had an olive branch in my mouth of peace with God and peace with man, plucked off with Jesus’ power.
…
…They are those that fly. They are not content now to make their nest of their own good works, with here and there a little bit of down picked off Morality-common, and here a piece of yarn that they have picked up in Legality palace, and here a piece of good work that they have found in the barn-yard of Ceremonialism. No; they are poor souls that have no rest anywhere, but are flying, and flying with rapid wing, until they can get to their windows.
…
But again: they are those who fly not on the ground, but like a cloud, up high.
– “Marvellous Increase of The Church” - The New Park Street Pulpit Vol I pg. 77-79 (C.H. Spurgeon)
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We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
—Psalm 124:7 (ESV)
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Rise then, my beloved, above the fogs and mists which cover the marshes of carnal questioning; climb the mountains of full assurance, and stand there with your foreheads bathed in sunlight, breathing that serene atmosphere which is untainted by a cloud of doubt.
…
We have here the soul compared to a bird. It is a little bird too—a sparrow, or one of the sparrow kind. “Our soul is escaped as a little bird”—not as a great bird that could break the net and free itself by its own force.
…
Our soul is often like a little bird because it is so eager and venturesome. How birds will trust themselves in winter around traps of the simplest kind if but a few crumbs are used as bait! Alas, men are equally foolhardy: they see others perish, yet they follow their ways. Many sip of the intoxicating cup, yet declare they will never be drunkards; they pilfer littles, yet despise a thief; they indulge in wanton words, but vow to be chaste as snow; they go into questionable places of amusement, and hope to remain pure. Oh silly birds! I mean silly souls! Thus the fowler fills his bags. Young people associate with ungodly persons, and say, “We are not so weak-minded as to be led away by them”; thus displaying a weak mind by that boastful speech. Youths tell us that to read skeptical books, and impure novels, and to hear lewd songs and spicy language will do them no harm. Believe no such flattering falsehoods, or you will rue the day. “You don’t catch old birds with chaff.” says the simpleton; and he hops into the net, “Younger birds must not come here,” says he; “it is dangerous for them, but I am safe enough.” Yet old birds’ necks are wrung as well as those of young birds; and experienced men are as foolish as the juveniles. When a man says, “It is no temptation to me,” it may be true, for soot will not blacken a sweep. Little birds, beware: the fowler promises pleasure, but the end thereof is death.
The little bird, also, when once taken in the net, is a good comparison with the soul captured by sin, for it is defenseless. What can it do? A mouse might eat the ropes and set free the lion, but no mouse will liberate the sparrow. He will have a short flutter, and we shall hear no more of him. When a man is birdlimed by a vice, the more he flutters the faster he is held by it. What is more defenseless than a soul in the net of sin? What little power men seem to have against their habits! They boast that they can stop anywhere—but, alas, they stop nowhere. “Oh, I have only to come to a determination.” Yes, “only to come to a determination”; but to that determination, you will not come. When men become entangled in the meshes of sin, their power to escape is gone: Jeremiah asks—”Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Such is the entanglement of habit, the slavery of lust.
While they are defenseless, we must notice, too, how alarmed they often are. The bird is no sooner in the net than he is frightened. Poor thing, how gladly would he escape if he could! Souls are not always so. They will be taken in Satan’s snares, and yet say that they are happy. Custom in sin kills conscience of sin. “A short life and a merry one.” say they, as if there could be any true merriment anywhere except in the great Father’s house, where they begin to be merry, as if they had never been merry before. Many souls have enough of conscience, and of enlightenment by the Word, to alarm them when they find themselves entangled in sin; and then they beat about, and hurt themselves, but alas! notwithstanding all their efforts, unless a stronger hand than theirs shall break the net, they will perish by the fowler’s hand.
…
Oh, little birds, there is no place on earth safe for you till Jesus covers you with His protecting wing!
…
Always suspect that in temptation to sin there is more than you can see. Never say that it is a little thing; for great evil lurks in a little fault. Death and destruction hide under apparently small offenses. Oh, if we could see everything as God sees it, then we poor silly souls might be in far less danger! But, alas, Satan covers the hook with a tempting bait, and we are taken.
Snares and traps are usually attractive. The poor bird sees seeds which he is fond of, and he goes for them, little judging that he is to give his life in exchange for brief enjoyment. So is it with Satan. He tempts us with pleasures, with the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life: we taste the sweet, and are pierced with the smart. Did we perceive the intent of the great enemy of souls we should fly from sin.
…
What are these snares? The Evil One endeavors to lead us into a false way, which will be congenial to our taste. We have each a peculiar weakness, and he knows how to adapt himself to it. He has been a student of nature for so long a time that he knows more about man than man knows about himself, and he, therefore, chooses that bait which is most likely to attract us. Oh that we may have grace to keep clear of pleasurable sin!
…
Oh, child of God, be upright in everything! However well you may gloss a matter over, and however much others may excuse it, yet if a certain act would be wrong in the sight of God, you must not think of it.
…
Dear friends, it is a dreadful thing for the poor little bird when it is taken, especially when it is so anxious to escape that it beats itself, and hurts itself in its efforts to get free. How came it to be taken?
It may have been taken through hunger. Half-starved, it dashed into peril for necessary food. Many true men are in such straits and difficulties that they are sadly liable to be brought into the net thereby.
…
Other birds are taken merely by their appetite. They are not excessively hungry, but they enjoy certain seeds, and the fowler knows it; and he scatters such around the trap. Ease of body, indulgence of taste, the joy of being admired, the sweets of power and position, all these and many more have been the fowler’s baits. Hundreds have all that heart ought to wish for, but they must needs be rich, and therefore fall into a thousand snares which they might have avoided. Men are snared by eating and by drinking, by fine raiment and by vain-glorious display. Snares lie thickly around the appetites of the body and the longings of the mind.
…
Thus you see how souls are captured. Perhaps I am speaking to one here who has flown into the net. You do not know what to do, friend; for you are quite helpless to break your bonds. You went in very eagerly, and, oh, how eagerly you would get out again if you could! But you cannot escape. Your own helplessness is now apparent as it never was before. One thing, however, you can do: you can cry to One who is stronger than you. You can pray the Lord to pluck your feet out of the net; and He is able to do it, for all things are possible with Him.
…
I wish that everybody here could repeat the utterance, and cry, Our soul is escaped. We were in the net, but our soul has escaped. The snare is broken; it has no power over us any longer; we are free from its grasp, we have escaped. Up, up, we sour, away from the fowler and his nets. Glory be to God, we have escaped.
“As when the fowler’s snare is broke,
The bird escapes on cheerful wings;
My soul, set free from Satan’s yoke,
With joy bursts forth, and mounts, and sings.”
This escape is due to God alone. As the bird could not get out of the snare, so the soul cannot escape from temptation; but God can bring it out, and He works the rescue. Hear this, ye that are slaves to drunkenness: God can deliver you. You that have fallen into licentiousness: hear it,—God can deliver you. Whatever the sin that has birdlimed you, that gracious hand which once was nailed to the cross can set you free. Up, up, up, ye that pine on the borders of despair! Jesus can deliver you. He that made the world out of nothing can make a joyful Christian even out of you. He can turn your mourning into dancing, and your despair into confidence.
…
[This] ought to teach us, first, to sing, for if a bird gets out of the net, does it sing? How glad it seems to be when once it flies away! Oh, you that have been delivered from sin and Satan, sing unto the Lord! Praise and bless His name. Be as happy as possible. Be something more than full of happiness. How can that be? Why, be so full of it that it overflows and cheers others. Let us communicate our joy as fas as ever we can, for we are escaped. We are escaped, and we will praise the blessed God who broke the snare.
Next, let us trust, for if the Lord has saved us from the dreadful snare of sin and Satan, He will save us from everything else. It is sad to me that any should trust the Lord with their souls, and yet they cannot trust Him for their daily bread, or for help in their daily trials. This must not be. If the Lord has given our soul so great an escape, depend upon it He will take care of our bodies. He that gave us Jesus will give us food and raiment, and let us be therewith content.
Lastly, let us watch. If we have fallen into the snare once, let us keep our eyes open not to go there again. May the Holy Spirit prevent any child of God from turning aside even for a moment from the straight way.
…
I have heard of a sailor who had been in prison, that after his release, he had money in his pocket, and going over London-bridge, he saw a man selling birds—thrushes, larks, and so on. “What do you want for that lot?” said Jack. I forgot how much it was, but Jack found the money ; and as soon as the birds were his he opened the door, and let them all fly away. The man called out, “Whatever did you buy those birds for, and then let them out?” “Oh,” said the sailor, “if you had been in prison as I have been you would be sure to set everything free you could get a hold of.” You and I ought to display the same kind of feeling towards all poor bondaged souls. I am sure that the Lord Jesus Christ is more tender-hearted than we are; and therefore He will certainly come and set free all prisoners who beg Him to open their cage doors. He is the great Emancipator; show Him your bonds, and beg for liberty, and He will grant it to you.
– “The Bird Escaped From the Snare” - Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol XXVIII (C.H. Spurgeon)
Beloved? (gentle)
Stones can’t fly. They can be useful for many things, but flying isn’t one of them. They can be used for good or harm. They are often used to build homes - safe havens where people and animals can find shelter and rest, but they can also be wildly placed in slings and hurled in anger at enemies.
Stones are hard. They can be crushed, but they can’t be shaped. They are unmalleable. You cannot force a stone to comply with a preconceived pattern. The stone is fixed, its position is set, its formation defined. You cannot teach a stone to take on a new shape, or reach for new heights, or put on courage. It simply is what it is, a stone.
Stones, rocks, boulders – they’re all lifeless, beloved. They cannot, and will not, contribute their own will - for they have none.
Please. (gentle, earnest) Consider with me, for a moment, these things, beloved. For, you will at times, be tempted to cast off your precious heart of flesh and - like the Israelites bemoaned ‘good ol’ Egypt’ - long for the heart of stone you once had.
Hark! Don’t be foolish, o my soul. Carefully weigh in the balances, these matters, for you are teetering on a precipice.
Chesterton says, “hardness is weakness“, but…is it? When we’re bent over, in the fetal position, writhing in pain, it’s inconceivable to imagine such a statement as being true. For it seems as though having a hard stone for a heart, can provide solace, safety, security. We feel, at times, a heart of stone would surely be better than having a heart of flesh, which is left vulnerable, defenseless, weak. We think to ourselves, “Having a heart of stone means…I’d have no feelings…no pain.” And, sometimes, when all we can feel is pain, anything but pain woos us, even if it’s a cold lifeless heart of stone.
There is, indeed, truth to that statement: “hardness is weakness“ - well, at least there is if we’re able to consider it with proper context and perception, anyway. And when it comes to a heart of stone, I might also add: hardness is useless.
Let us, consider these things, Together, please? Just for a li’l bit? Real quick?
Perhaps, we shall start from the beginning, yes? Yes, that seems like a good place to start. (cheerful)
Beloved, we were created in God’s image. We must never – ever – forget that. For this is the basis of all things, really. It helps calibrate our thoughts, our feelings, our will. It brings things into focus when all else is blurry.
Have we made a mess of things? Aye, we have indeed. (sorrowful) But…God, in His mercy, hasn’t left us there.
I believe God created us with a heart of flesh, but when we sinned, our hearts turned to stone – they became stone cold. Our hearts of flesh perished in that first awful moment of defiance.
[3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Genesis 3:3 (ESV)
And, thus our hearts of flesh were turned to stone – our life within was gone; death came upon us.
We were supposed to be mirrors, reflecting God’s glory, His light, His beauty. But, alas, we became walking corpses – at best – or…perhaps, more likely, statues of stone.
But, God loves us dearly, beloved. He didn’t create us to be still, lifeless, like a stone. His love for us is steadfast and everlasting! He can restore and redeem that which has been corrupted – broken – that which has gone through death.
He replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, once again, and breathes life into us through His Spirit, even now! Our hearts were essentially dead, like that of a stone laying on the ground. But, oh! God, graciously brought us to life again! Therefore, we can fly, beloved! It may terrify us, at first, but it is most assuredly revitalizing to our soul. (giddy)
Let us consider our hearts now, Together – our very lives – and compare and contrast them with two images: that of a stone and a little bird.
The stone is on the ground, motionless. The bird, is alive, with a beating heart, blood surging through its veins and breath in its lungs. The stone, as we’ve already considered, is…what it is, a stone, nothing more, nothing less. The bird, however, is much more. For the bird is alive! And in being alive, it is infinitely more valuable and precious.
This life, here, is full of trials, as you know, beloved. Our Heavenly Father wills it to be so. Sometimes we can make sense of this, other times we cannot. When we are most discouraged, most downcast, and just about ready to despair…
…the Evil One sees an opportunity, sneaks in, and whispers, “Your heart of flesh is weak, see the pain it’s causing you? Take back your heart of stone. Protect yourself. Don’t be silly. Don’t be a fool. No one is coming to save you. Don’t allow yourself to be naively vulnerable. Trust no one but yourself. Put up walls if you have to. Suppress love if you must. It isn’t worth it. Anything is better than this miserable heart of flesh you’ve been given. This is no gift, this is a curse. You say your God is good? (chuckles, rolls eyes, shows signs of pity but the ‘pity’ only gives birth to shame)”
And so…we doubt, we wonder, “Having a heart of stone may be better, yes?”
No, beloved. (gentle) No, it’s not better. (firm)
Sadly, these thoughts, have been presented many, many times, O my soul, have they not? Aye. (deep sigh) They tend to crop up just when we are most vulnerable, yes? Quite so. (tender)
The heart of stone appears so…hopeful, so…safe. And yet, a heart of stone is no such thing. For it is a life apart from God. It is a rejection of His loving kindness. It is worse than death, it is abdication.
But, let us consider the bird, Together, please? Is she safe? Do her wings flutter with hope? She is quite vulnerable, yes? Yes…in one sense, she is. (said plainly) But this is where we must proceed with the utmost caution, beloved. For her vulnerability – the vulnerability of our hearts of flesh – is…(pondering) an estimated or perceived vulnerability. Better said: it’s a ‘made-up’ sense of vulnerability.
Consider this, please: Which is safer in the hands of God – a stone or a bird?
One may argue, “neither.” They are both equally as “safe” in the hands of our God Almighty, for they were both created by God and are sustained by Him.
True, however, to really get down to the bottom of this, it seems we need to extrapolate further why this perceived vulnerability is such a great fear of ours. Is it security we’re after? Is it comfort? The stone, laying there on the ground is surely more comfortable. It’s safer, I suppose one could say because it doesn’t feel any pain. But as the saying goes: no pain no gain; right? Okay, so what is to gain? Can we say the bird has “gain” with this gift of life?
The bird has a richer, fuller, more vivid understanding of life than a stone, yes. For a bird can experience this world in ways the stone cannot. A bird can fly! A bird can explore. A bird can hunt for and enjoy food. A bird can participate in the creation of new life. Furthermore, and perhaps the most fantastic advantage for the bird, is its endless freedom to discover various vantage points, its seemingly infinite number of unique outlooks.
The stone has one single viewpoint - if it even were to be considered to have eyes(!), of which it has none. I suppose it could be pushed down a hill, or carried off by a young girl and placed upon another section of earth…and therefore could have the opportunity to ‘see’ something new. But the bird – with its feet and wings and eyes – can never exhaust its potential for new sights, new experiences, new perspectives - whether that be high or low!
Yes, (contemplative) the bird may, and most assuredly does, experience pain and suffering: wounds, hunger, discomfort, fear…but this too, requires our consideration.
For pain and suffering is more than what this world makes it out to be. It’s not necessarily something to be avoided. It’s not merely an inconvenience or a nuisance. It’s not entirely bad. It’s…(pondering) the only way to see the wide spectrum of life. It…opens up new pathways for new heights and new depths. It reveals grace and mercy. In short, it helps us know Love. Without pain and suffering, love would be reduced, limited, shallow.
Without pain and suffering, there would be no fear. Without a rightful sense of fear, there would be no awe. Without fear and awe, how could one…how could we experience and know the precious work of salvation? How could we see the full array of danger and peril by which we’ve narrowly escaped? (weeping)
(pauses for a long while)
A book may, perhaps, be written about a stone. One might use the most beautiful and articulate words and phrases ever penned to describe, in the most splendidly vivid, colorful detail, its surroundings, its habitation, its impact on the world at large. It might be a fine book to read. It might produce a chuckle or a furrowed eyebrow or cause someone to pause reading and enquire with a perceiving question or two this or that or what or who. It might be a book worth reading. Maybe.
But…
What about a little bird, caught in a net with Its heart racing, its worried beak chirping, Its wings and legs damaged with struggle and strain? What if this bird was saved? What if it was rescued and set free by someone with compassion? What if she could fly once again and soar over land and sea flapping her wings with joy and singing songs of praise? Why…one could really write something about that - not just one book, but a whole volume of books. And what of the kindness…what of the love shown to her by the one who set her free? Oh! What things could be marveled! What things could be explored! A story like this, even with it being a poor example – aye a poor example indeed – introduces Love. The book written about the stone is…black and white, at best. This precious account of the bird – a life saved – reveals color! This tale of wonder, awe, mystery, horror, pain, sorrow, joy…is beautiful. Aye—the one reading such words wouldn’t just read them. They wouldn’t just observe it as a passerby and carry on as if nothing had happened. They would weep. They would hope. They would find joy – not just for the bird, but for themselves.
Beloved? (gentle)
There’s so much more I could try and say. There are many more things I’d like to explore…
Come, with me, please. (tender) We’ve been set free, beloved! Let us fly, Together, now.
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places.
— Habakkuk 3:17-19
—
Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from You.’
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
You hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand,
I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole bing rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let Your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
— Selections from Psalm 16
—
Be glad, O children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for He has given the early rain for your vindication;
He has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God
and there is none else.
— Joel 2:23-27a
————————————————————
Beloved? (ever so gentle)
There might be times in your life when you can rejoice in nothing else, but you can always, always rejoice in Him, do you know? (tender)
Maybe your business will fail. Maybe your health will fail. Maybe your mind will fail. Maybe you will lack food to nourish your body, or tenderness and intimacy to nourish your soul. Maybe you will make mistakes and feel ashamed. Maybe you will feel helpless to fix broken relationships, helpless to fix yourself.
Failing and pain are part of life here, beloved. I hate that for you, but He ordains it - and so it must be good, yes? (hopeful)
He alone is worthy of rejoicing in, beloved. He is constant, unchanging, always and forever loving you with His beautiful, patient, steadfast Love. When all else is ‘wrong,’ beloved, His mere presence, His mere existence is worth your gladness, your joy, your worship and praise and adoration, is it not, beloved? (gentle)
I know that it’s so easy to lose sight of this truth, beloved. (extra gentle) I know that your eyes are so quick to look down in shame and inward in selfishness. You often forget to look up and out. But beloved? (tender) Even this is not an insurmountable obstacle when you are a child of the King.
All that He requires is your acknowledgement that you lost sight of Him, once again, this day. You tell Him you’re sorry. You tell Him that you can’t escape from your shame, your selfishness, apart from Him. You beg Him to help you. And you trust that He will help you.
And then you rejoice. You remind yourself who He is, who you are. You read what His Word tells us about rejoicing.
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Though all else is broken and messy and numb and feels hopeless, beloved…yet you will rejoice in the Lord. You will take joy in the God of your salvation.
Many things you cannot grasp after here, beloved (gentle), but you can grasp after joy in Him, do you see?! (hopeful) When your hands, your arms, your soul feels empty, when you feel the ache, and are keenly aware of the immense lack…take joy in Him, beloved. Take joy. It is yours for the taking, my sweet one, do you know? (tender)
Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
—Psalm 36:5
The clouds – like we –
Are but a mist:
Together, often dismissed.
A day – a lifetime –
Uniquely made;
In Time, will fade.
At the mercy of His Spirit,
Tossed about by the Wind,
A life of reckless abandon—lived.
What for? What purpose?
We ponder—Together:
Only what be, His good pleasure.
The clouds – like we –
A potential risk:
Hark! Son-kissed.
Dark, dull, dreary, drab;
Gloomy, lifeless—contrite.
Lo! made to be, pure white.
Cover us, precious Savior,
With your shed blood: our Light!
May we forever be, pure white.
Dear God,
I am full of wishes,
Full of desires,
Full of expectations.
Some of them may be realized,
Many may not,
But in the midst of all my satisfactions
And disappointments,
I hope in You.
I know that You will never leave me alone
And will fulfill Your divine promises.
Even when it seems that things are not going my way, I know that they are going Your way
And that in the end Your way is the Best way for me. O Lord, strengthen my hope,
Especially when my many wishes are not fulfilled.
Let me never forget that Your name is Love.
Amen.
— Henry Nouwen